Golden Love
by Melissiaew
Summary: When your born the child of a slave you expect to be treated as such. But when your father is the Elder David, that's when things change a bit. The only people in your world are your mother and a few people in your father inner circle, that's until a boy with big blue eyes tells your father that he wants you to be his new toy...
1. Prologue

It was a beautiful night, no one would think that the peace would be shattered in such a way. One by one the little settlements that held the Niran, fox like monsters by the magician's way of thinking, disappeared. Some of the other tribes were happy that the little thieves were gone, others saddened that they would never hear their mischievous laughs. Little did they know that their neighbor now had to face a fate worse than death for some.

"Is that all of them?" he asked

"We believe so my Lord, but one can never be to sure they are tricky little things." the magician replied. "Good, I want you to kill some to leave so that the people believe that we simply killed them. We can't have them knowing what we really have planned for the Niran." the man said.

"Yes Elder." the magicians replied.

The men looked out at the Niran that were held in the magic cage to control their power. He had a cold hungry looked on face.

"Now which one of you is going to be my new" he smirked, "plaything?" With a laugh he started around the cage to find the Niran to his liking. He had heard this village had a golden Niran, but he had yet to see her. He started using his magic to test the power of the different women hoping that the one he was looking for would speak up to stop her clansmen's pain. Child or women it did not matter to him, they were not human what should he care, his fellow Elders would still take them.

"He is not going to stop until I come out my love." Sana said.

"No, you must stay quiet. I just got you and I will not give you to that vile human." Azim said.

"That just means it will be that much easier to move on my love." she replied.

She stood. "If you are testing my sisters and the children of the clan for the golden one, I am she."

She made her way to the human man, ignoring the cries of her people telling her to come back.

"How nice of you to make it so easy little one," the man said, "I will be your new master," With a wave of his stave he fit her with a collar.

"My name is David and I will be all you know and care about for the rest of your life. Or until I no longer want you," David said.

With those few words she understood what he wanted of her and her people. Those fools planned to use them as slaves and, by the way they were looking at the women of her tribe, bed slaves at that. She knew that it may take years but they would be free one way or another, for you could not keep a Niran in chains for long as they always found a way out.

So with a smile she replied "As you wish master."


	2. A girl named Zara

Sana had lived as David's slave for many years now. As far as masters went she had to admit that he wasn't the worse man that could have took her. She knew that some of her sisters had been killed by their masters' violence. The men of her clan had mostly been sent to work building the towers that stole the minds of the other races. The luckier ones had been chosen as presents for the Elders' wives. They had been merciful to the children of the clans and only kept them as pets as long as they never left their animal forms.

Now, Sana had a reason to truly fear her master. She had just found out she was pregnant, and she knew what the elders did with the unwanted mixed breed children. Most were killed before they drew their first breath. Those were the lucky ones. Others were sent to the magic academies, where they were used as test subjects. She truly hoped that, even though her child was a mixed breed, David would remember that she carried in her his blood too, not just hers. She knew that David had a son she never seen the boy herself but she had heard of him from the other elders that came to talk with David, and her sister also talked of the boy when she was allowed to visit with them. She was planning on putting the thought into David's head that her child could one day serve his son. Not in the way that she served the father, being that the child would be his sister if she was a girl, but maybe as a guard or a servant. She waited for David to return to his room, pacing back and forth.

"It will be fine. Surly not even he would kill his own flesh and blood." Sana mumbled.

She was so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn't heard her master enter the room.

"What was that, my pet?" he asked.

She whirled around quickly and entered into a defensive stance with her claws at the ready, only to be shocked by the collar around her neck.

"Now, now, my dear I thought that you would have remembered what happened when you raised your claws to me." he smirked.

"Please forgive me, master," Sana whimpered "I didn't not realize that it was you. I thought that another had come into the room." she said.

"Fine, you are forgiven. This time. But I won't be as forgiving the next time you bare your fangs or claws to me or mine," David growled as he released the magic in the collar,

"Now what were you talking about when I walked in?" he asked.

Sana closed her eyes and took a breath as she thought out her next words, knowing that how she phrased this could mean life or death for her unborn child. Thoughts of the child lost to this war went through her head.

"Master, I believe that I'm going to gift you with a new present for your young son." Sana said.

"Please, what could a Niran slave give my son? You own nothing, your life isn't even your own. You can't leave this room without my say and you think that you could possibly be able to gift my son with something. Now, that _is_ amusing. And I thought that I knew all your tricks." David sneered.

"Yes, I know that my life is yours and all that I am is yours as well, master. This gift I speak of is something that we both have made and is not mine alone." she said as she moved her hand to her stomach.

"You have gifted me with a child, master. I had hoped that the child could become young Solomon's when it was of age." she said.

David just stared at the woman at his feet. Not knowing whether to believe her or not. This could easily be a way to get out of his bed for a few months, or even a way to stop him from punishing her.

"Are you sure this is true?" he asked shocked.

"Yes, master. I have been sick off and on for months now. I believe that I may be in my second if not third month." she explained.

"And you waited this long to tell me!?" he yelled.

"Please, forgive me. I wanted to make sure that I was right before I brought it to your attention." Sana said.

David thought back to all things he had done to her over the last few months that could have harmed the child. Hell, moments before he had let the collar shock her out of anger when she had dared to raise a hand to him. He now knew that was because she thought that she had to protect her child, no, _their_ child.

He was going to be a father again. No, what his slave was going to give birth to was a monster, a being of two races. One that could possible have his magic ability, and that's not even adding in what the thing could get from it's mother. But on one hand, if that child was a slave to his son, or even him, the possibilities... If the child inherited it's mother's golden powers, that would be even more amazing. The chances of it having both were slim but it could possible an amazingly powerful being or just a normal half breed.

Sana watched as David thought about what she had just told him. She knew that the child would have her powers. It would be her only child, the others had been killed in the raid seven years earlier. There was no one else they could go to.

"Yes, this creature will stay here with us. I know not if I will give it to Solomon yet, but the creature could be a great help to me. Time will tell." David said.

* * *

The months passed quickly as her child grows. Sana could not be happier that she managed to save her little girl's life. It was almost comical when David found out that they were going to have a girl. He couldn't keep calling the child a creature after that. Sana thought that he may have been almost happy to be having a girl. She knew that he was proud of his son, but the light that came into his eyes when he found out was amazing, but it didn't last long. The other elders found out about the girl and knew that David wasn't planning on disposing of it.

The day finally arrived that their daughter was born, and she would be known as Tamar to the elders and people of David s inner circle. But to Sana she was her radiant hope and her last chance to be a mother, so she named her Zara. Even if the only one to ever call her that name was her, it didn't matter.

As the girl grew, David stayed a main point in her life, hoping to keep her loyal to him. He took her with him wherever he went in the house. He didn't really treat her as a daughter, more like a favored dog or pet of some kind. Little treats here and there as well as pats on the head. Zara knew that the man was her father and that the woman who cared for her at night was her mother. But they didn't act like the families that she saw when she and mother went to visit the Niran. She would later learn why she was different and why they didn't act that way. The hardest thing she would later learn was the man that she thought loved her was nothing like she believed him to be, and that her father knew nothing of love or family.


	3. The other child

"Zara, I need you to stay in our room tonight. I'm going to be with our master for the rest of the night." Sana said gently.

"But momma, it's boring in here by myself. Can't I go with you to see father?" Zara whined.

She looked up at her mother with big tear filled eyes. Hoping if she looked pitiful enough her mother would say yes.

Sana looked down at her four year old daughter and laughed.

"If you think that's going to work on me you're wrong, little girl." Sana told her.

She picked her up and flipped her in the air a few times before dropping her back on the bed.

"I know that it gets boring and lonely in here, but I ll be back before you know it and then we can play in the morning. If Master David doesn't wish to take you around tomorrow." she told her.

"Okay, momma, I'll wait here for you, then." Zara said with a pout.

Sana laughed as she kissed her daughter on the head as she left to find her master. Zara laid on the bed for an hour before she grew bored. She jumped up from the bed and looked to the door, thinking about what her mother said. She knew that if she was caught that she would be stuck in her room until her father called for her, but she really wanted to explore. Zara then worked up the nerve to leave their room.

She stuck to the shadows, knowing that they would hide her from the magicians and other slaves walking the halls, until she made it to the entrance hall, where there were very few shadows to hide in. She knew crossing this part of the house would be tricky. Looking around she saw a few doors and halls leading into new places that she had never been. She didn t see any people about at the moment. She knew if she wanted to make it into one of those unknown places, now would be the time. She slowly made her way across the hall, looking back and forth for any people who would jump out and catch her. Seeing no one, she made her way to the plainest door. She didn't know why that one called to her, but it did. She opened it, coming to a room filled with books and a few toys scattered around the room. The books didn't hold much sway over her yet, as she couldn't read more than a few words here and there. The toys, however, were the stuff of dreams for her. She had never seen so many in one place or so many different kinds. She played with the toys for some time, unknowing that she was being watched by a boy with eyes so very much like her own.

When Solomon went to enter his room, he stopped short at the sight of a small child playing with some of his old toys. At first he was amused that a child that small had managed to get this far into the house without a servant or adult of some kind stopping them. That was until he spotted the ears atop it's head. Those ears belonged to a race long thought dead. He had only seen drawings of them in his books and little to no information of what their abilities and habits had been saved. Solomon started to walk towards the monster child, only to have it turns towards him causing him to stop short when he saw its eyes. They looked so much like his own. Only humans were known to have blue eyes. That fact alone stopped him from harming the girl.

"Girl, what are you doing in my room?" he asked her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I've never seen so many toys before." Zara told the boy.

"Girl, what is your name?" he asked her.

"Which name are you asking for?" she asked him.

"You have more than one name? How is that?" he questioned.

"Momma gave me a name when I born, then my father gave me a different name." she told him like it was obvious.

Solomon snorted, the mind of a child was an amazing thing.

"Ok then which name do you prefer?" he asked.

"Prefer, what's that?" she asked as she cocked her head to the side.

For the first time, Solomon actually thought that something was cute. He actually wanted to protect the innocence that he saw in her eyes.

"Well, it means which one do you like the most. So I'll ask again, which one do you prefer?" he asked with a soft smile.

Unknown to the girl in front of him, that was the first time he had _ever_ smiled like that.

"Oh, I like Zara cause my momma says that it means radiant." she said with a huge toothy grin.

Solomon noticed that she had little fangs as well. It was kind of cute. With her ears and fangs she looked like a little red puppy almost.

"Okay then, I'll call you Zara. Now, who's your father?" he asked with a smile.

"Father is father, silly." Zara laughed.

Solomon looked at the girl in shock. It started slowly but he began snickering, then went into full blown, belly rolling laughter. Only a child would respond with that kind of answer and think it was right. As he thought about it, she wasn't wrong to her, her father's name would be father, she didn't know any better.

Zara looked at the strange boy as he laughed, not understanding what he found so funny. She was starting to think that there maybe something wrong with him.

"I'm sorry, but that's not what I meant when I asked for his name." Solomon got out between laughs.

"What do other people call your father, like your mother or his friends or colleagues?" he asked again.

"Oh, momma calls him Master David." Zara said without a care not realizing the bombshell she had just dropped.

"David..." Solomon muttered.

In that moment, Solomon realized that the young girl in front of him was his sister. That for years his father had been lying to the people about the Niran race and maybe other races as well. Also, his father had never told him that he had a sister, especially one of mix-race. Solomon did understand the need for secrecy, but he could have told him that he had a sister. Instead, Solomon had to find the girl when she wandered into his room. Just how many years had he been lying to him?

"Zara, how old are you?" Solomon gently asked.

Zara looked up from her toys and smiled. She raised her hand and brought up four clawed fingers.

"I'm this many." she told her brother, unknown to her at this point.

"I see, do you know how long your mother has been a slave?" he asked.

Solomon sat down next to as he waited for Zara to answer him. As he looked at the girl, no his sister, he could see the resemblance between the two of them. Besides her eyes, she also had his father's nose and the way her eyes were shaped was similar to his father's.

"I don't know how long momma has belonged to father." she told him.

"I see." he said.

Solomon reached down to grab a forgotten toy and looked at his sister.

"Do you know that you have a brother?" he told her.

Zara looked up at the boy by her side.

"What's a brother?" she asked.

Solomon smiled at her and patted her head.

"A brother is a man or boy that is the child of one of your parents. He also keeps you safe, if he is older than you and can make you miserable at the same time." Solomon told her with a small smile.

Zara looked up at him a bit of panic in her eyes.

"That sounds horrible." she cried, almost crying.

Solomon just laughed at the look on her face.

"Well, it can be, but you get to be the same way to your brother as well." Solomon told her as he wiped the tears from her face.

"Okay," she sniffed, "that doesn't sound so bad now." she said as she started to smile.

"Who is my brother? And what's his name?" she asked.

"I'm your brother, Z, and my name is Solomon." he told her.

* * *

 **Hello all, I really appreciate you all for reading. Now, I don't own anything but Zara, Sana and the Niran race. If you do enjoy my story it will be linked to the story Survivor and Seeker by Jaxrond. Who is also my beta reader. If you like please review, at this point I'm not sure if the story will continue past the flashback arc of magi. Thanks again and enjoy!**


	4. And it begins

Zara continued to meet with her brother every week. Only going late at night when her mother was busy with her father. The two siblings began to grow very close. Solomon started to notice that a magical presence or power when he was with his sister. He believed that she must have magic of some sort but couldn't use it or their father would have given her a power limiting collar to wear. He would later regret that thought.

Solomon had been listening to some of the other kids talk about their brothers and sisters and what they did together. After all he, himself had just become a big brother and didn't really know what to do with a younger sibling. The idea never even passed through his mind before. He was at a lose, and to make matters worse he couldn't really ask for help. He was suppose to be an only child, why would he need to know what one did with a sibling?

"Yesterday I ripped all the heads off my sister's dolls. She cried for like hours. Man it was funny."

"Man, that sounds like it was a good one, so what she do to tick you off?"

"She was playing with my staff and caught some of the chairs on fire. My mom blamed me for it."

All the other kids only talked about the bad things they did to their siblings and Solomon had no reason to be mean to his sister, yet.

Solomon had been running late that night, he never imagined what he would come home too.

Zara had grown bored waiting for her brother to get there. So she started playing with the different things he had in his room. Not knowing that some of those objects where magical.

When Zara found a staff like the one Solomon use to practice his magic with. She decided that she would pretend to be like her big brother.

She held the staff in both hands like she had seen her brother and father do before they used their powers.

"What was the word that Solomon used?" she asked herself.

She scrunched up her face trying to remember exactly what her brother had said. Instead for remembering the word she remembered what happened after.

Solomon walked into his room only to be blow back out of it when a ball of fire slammed into his borg. He quickly jumped back up and brushed the flames off his school robes as he ran to make sure that his sister was okay.

When he ran into his room he found Zara with an old training staff clutched in her hands. With a wide eyed look of wonder on her face at what she had done. For the first time Solomon now understood why the other kids talked about how annoying and bratty their siblings could be.

Zara didn't even looked sorry in the least for sending him flying. If his borg hadn't activated that attack could have killed him.

"Zara you, you, you.. "the sound of running feet could be heard in the distance.

Solomon looked toward the main hall; he knew before long the attendant his father had order to serve him would be here soon.

He ripped the staff from his sister's hands and pushed her toward the closet in the far corner of the room.

"Quick you need to hide. I'll come up with something to explain this but she can't know you're here." he told as he continued to push at his immobile sister.

"I mean it, Zara, remember your not suppose to be in this part of the house you'll get in trouble." That threat was enough to get through to Zara, as she knew it wouldn't be her that got punished but her mother if it was found out that she was in this part of the house. She quickly ran to the closet and through the door open.

"But Solomon there's nowhere to hide in here it" was too late.

A young woman who looked to be about her mother's age stood in the doorway. She kept looking between Solomon and Zara not sure what had happened or if the niran child was a threat to the young lord.

"Solomon?" she asked.

Her every concern in that one word. Was this thing a threat? Did he need help? Did she need to deal with it?

"Abra it's not what it looks like." Solomon quickly put in.

"Then just what happened here?" she asked with her arms crossed and looked that could kill on her face.

"Umm I was playing with my staff and um.." Solomon tried to think of an excuse any excuse that would get them out of this. Anything that would keep both him and Zara out of trouble, especially Zara.

"Please, Solomon if you're trying to come up with a good excuse saying that you did this, is just plain stupid. You have had near perfect control over your magic seen you were a small child, and you expected me to believe that you just suddenly lost control of it?" she asked with a brow raised.

"Um, yes..?" Solomon said with a weak smile, while he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Fine. Don't tell me what happen or who this thing is," pointing to Zara with a wave of her hand, "but you will have to tell your father." she said.

With that said Abra turned to leave the room.

"Wait!" Solomon and Zara yelled.

"Please don't tell master David/father." both Solomon and Zara cried.

"This girl's name is Zara and I've been playing with her after I'm done with my studies." Solomon quickly cut in.

"Most of the other children don't want to play with or talk to me because I'm father's son. They're too scared of making me mad and getting in trouble and the ones that do only want to be on my good side to help their parent careers. She's not like that. She just happy to be with me or to watch me practice. So please don't tell father." Solomon explained.

The look on Abra's face softened when she heard what Solomon had to say. She truly wanted him to have friends and know what that meant. She looked at the girl she now know as Zara. She looked terrified. She was ashamed that she made a child look like that. The fact that, she wasn't human didn't matter for the first time. Abra stopped when she realized that she didn't care that this child wasn't human. This girl was simple a scared child hiding behind a friend. She didn't deserve to be punished for making a friend or playing.

As she looked between the two, time seemed to stop for the siblings as they waited for Abra to speak.

"Okay, that explains the girl but not what happened."

"Like I said, I was messing around with my staff, and Zara bumped into me. That's what happen, so there is no need to tell my father." Solomon told her.

Now Abra knew that her master was young but she knew that just having a girl bump into him wasn't enough to make him make a mistake. She wouldn't push the issue any further.

Now knowing that Solomon was safe Abra left the two alone but told Zara that she would have to return soon as it was getting late. She truly hoped that Solomon could keep his relationship with this girl a secret from his father and the other elders. But unknown to her and the siblings saying goodnight, Abra wasn't the only one who had felt the explosion, but one of them could see how this could change so much.

* * *

When Zara return to her room the person she expected to see was her father.

"Tamar, where have you been?" David growled.

Zara had never seen him like that before. He was looking at her with disgust and something else she couldn't name. Almost like he was looking at some bit of trash or a rodent that had dared to cross his path.

"F f father?" she stuttered.

"Don't call me that. I've been far too lenient with you. I have gave you everything you could possible want clothes, food, toys. And this is how you thank me, by disobeying me. I told you that you couldn't leave this part of the house."

How, how, HOW. Is all that she could think.

"Father I'm.."

David wiped around and slapped her across the face. Sending the poor girl flying into a wall.

"I told you not to call me that you brat!" David bellowed

"From this day forth you are no longer any child of mine. You will be my property just like your vile mother. If you can't do as you're told then I will teach what it means be a _niran,"_ he spoke as if the word was poison, "in this world girl."

With her head bowed all she did was nod her head. With that David waved his staff and a collar like her mother's was place around her neck.

It was long after David left and her mother was allowed in that Zara finally moved.

"Oh god, Zara what did he do to you?!" her mother cried.

Zara looked up at the sound of her mother voice. It was then that Sana truly just how bad her daughter looked. Zara was a small child, so not only had he hit her cheek but part of her eye as well. Her eye was starting to swell and her cheek was already beginning to bruise. On the other side she had a deep cut on her forehead where she hit the wall.

"He hit me." she whispered almost too softly for her mother to hear.

"My baby, my poor baby." Sana cried as she she held her tight.

Sana began to rock her in her arms. Cocooning her with her arms and tail wishing that her warmth was enough to take the pain and wounds away from her daughter.  
It was then that Zara finally snapped she began to cry and scream. Beating at her mother asking her way she wasn't there to stop him and way her father would hurt her.

"I told you before my dear that man, may have fathered you, but he's not your father. The man who should be your father was in the slave pens we use to visit. He was brought when you were three and his masters took him far away from here." she told knowing that Zara wouldn't really understand until she was older.

"So this is why he had me running errands for him. While I was out doing his work he was here hurting our, no my daughter. Baby I know you're hurt but can you tell me why he would do this?" she asked.

There was no truly good reason to harm a child no matter what they did but she needed to know so that she could keep her from doing it again.

"He found out I was leaving this side of the house."

"Why did you leave baby."

"Just to explore. I know I'm not to leave here but I was bored. Then I met Solomon my brother." she sniffed

"Why didn't you tell me I had a big brother momma?" she asked.

Sana looked at her daughter then. Solomon, so she finally met him. She knew that it would happen at some point. Her daugher was far too much like she was when she was Zara's age for it not to happen.

Sana never imagined that David would react like this simply because the two had met. There had to be bigger picture that she wasn't seeing, but what.

* * *

Solomon had started to learn what he could about the other races, after he had meant his sister. He now knew that Niran could control fire, the fact that the blast had been so strong was proof of that. Niran had a basic control over fire, an adult may have been able to do that but a child his sister s age shouldn't have been able too.

Solomon wanted to find out as much about her people as possible. He hadn't seen or heard anything from her since that day. He was being to worry. What if his father had found out? Had she been punished? Was she hurt or god forbid dead?

It had been a couple months since Abra had found out about Zara. She was looking forward to seeing the girl and maybe even getting to know her. Solomon didn't talk about her at all, no matter how much Abra would bring her up. It was like he was trying to pretend that she didn't exist.

It was then when she was taking Solomon to met with Ugo that she finally saw her again.

She almost didn't recognize her. The sweet little girl that she had seen in Solomon's room was gone. The child at David's side looked nothing like her. Her eyes no longer had the light that use to burn in them. She had bruises on her face and arms. There was also a cut above her eye and one along her jaw. She looked like she had been badly beaten.

"Zara?" she whispered.

The girl ears twitched as she heard her name called. She started to turn towards the sound, only to be hit with David's staff.

"You are not to look at anyone or anything Tamar. Do you want a repeat of last time. You still have the wounds from then." David threaten.

Solomon's head wiped up when Abra had said her name. He didn't want to believe that the slave by his father's side was really her, but he knew when he heard him call her Tamar. Finally got to see her again only to watch as his father beat her with his staff, and if that wasn't bad enough the other elders in the room were laughing and calling out suggestions on what he should do to her.

Couldn't they see that this wasn't an enemy but a child. They were beating a defenseless child. How could this possibly be what their god wanted them to do? How could this senseless violence be right and justifiable?

It was in that moment that Solomon realized that everything his father had taught him about the world was wrong. This couldn't be the will of god.

With a determined look in his eye he started across the room.

"Abra go find Ugo."

"Father."


	5. Road to freedom

"Father, stop."

There was a note of command that David had never heard in his son's voice before. That made him stop and really look at the boy he thought was under his complete control. What he was seeing was not the boy that would do anything if it would please his father, but the beginnings of what would be a great king and leader.

"Solomon, who do you think you are to be telling me anything?" David sneered.

Solomon stared at the man he once thought that could do no wrong. He knew that what he said in the next few minutes could mean life or death for his sister and banishment if not death for him.

"I'm simply your son, father, I ask that you stop because I want her." he was calm and to the point.

It was no lie, he did want his sister in his life but more importantly as far away from their father as Solomon could get her.

"Oh, you _want_ her, now boy she isn't one you can _have_." David replied with a vile smirk.

"Please, father if I was going to lay with a women she would be a magician." Solomon told him with a smirk of his own.

"What I want her for is my servant maybe even a test subject for some of my spells. She is of a race I have never seen before. I want to know how the towers would work on her and if there are other forms of magical mind control that could work if the towers won't." he explained.

"I meant no disrespect when I told you to stop father, Please forgive me." he lied.

David's eyes narrowed at the last part of his son's little show. He heard the lie in his voice, but he could not call him out on it in front of the other members of the council.

"I see, then it would make sense that _it_ be in reasonable good health. You may have _it_. I no longer have any use for the _creature_."

It took all that Solomon had not to punch his father for every it, and creature that he through out. He kept his head down so the shadow could hide the fury on his face at the treatment that his sister had received at the hands of her own father.

By this point Arba had made it back with Ugo in tow. She was ready for a fight if the look in the young lord s eyes was anything to go by. Ugo had no idea what was happening, only that Solomon needed his help. As he took in the scene in front of him, he came to the conclusion that they wouldn't be staying with the church much longer and that little girl between Elder David and Solomon had something to do with it.

"Arba," Solomon yelled.

"Yes, My lord."

"I need you to collect my newest servant."

With that Solomon turned to leave so that David and the other elders wouldn't see the concern in his eyes. Arba walked over and carefully picked up Zara not wanting to harm her more than she already was. As she walked away she began to look over Zara's small body looking for more injuries.

At least one of her arms was broken, she now had more gashes from David's staff. They would have to wait until they returned to Solomon's rooms.

"So, is anyone going to tell me what the hell's going on." Ugo asked.

"Later, when they can't overhear. Please be patient" Solomon asked.

The walk back to Solomon's room was quite a sombare affair. No one really wanted to break the quiet. Each was last in their own thoughts. Solomon was blaming himself for what happened to his sister. He should have know that something was wrong. There had to have been a reason that she didn't show up. He should have looked for her; went to his father and demanded answers.

"Solomon don't blame yourself, there is no way you could have know that she was with your father." Arba attempted to console him.

"That's just it Arba, I did know! I knew exactly where she was all I had to was go there and I could have seen her, maybe even have stopped him from hurting her. I just didn't want him to know that I knew." He confessed.

"Knew what, that he had a slave? That would be expected. He is the head of the church."

"No, have you really looked at her Arba she's not just a slave, she's my sister. I knew that. His dirty little secret, a half breed child." Solomon raged.

Ugo understood that something big was going on but that.., that never crossed his mind. Who would have thought that the leader of the church would have a half breed child. It was unbelieveable.

Arba was shocked but the more she thought about it, it made sense. She had been made to serve and protect Lord David's children. That would explain her immediate liking of the girl even with her being other than human.

They soon reached Solomon's rooms. Then Arba began tended to Zara's numerous wounds.

"I know this really isn't the time, but she kinda looks like a mummy now." Ugo got out between laughs.

The tense that had been in the room had broke with that. As Arba and Solomon looked at her, they started to laugh too. They knew she was still hurt but she was safe now and that was all that mattered to them.

* * *

They decide that it would be best to keep Zara at of sight until she was healed and ready to face the world. Even after her physical wounds healed a part of her remained broken and Solomon had no idea what to do to bring back the little girl who use to laugh and play with him. She would just sit and stare out the window unless order to do what was needed to keep her alive. Days turned into weeks and weeks to months and still very little had changed with the poor girl. Solomon was now eleven and today was his sister fifth birthday. The rolls they had played a year ago were now reversed. It was Solomon who would sneak into Zara's old room, but not to spend time with his sibling. No, now he was trying to found a way to bring her back from the confines of her own mine.

It was there that she had retreated to escape the cruelty of their father. Now she simply couldn t find her way back.

"Are you ready, Sana?"

"Yes, but are you sure that I won't be missed?"

"Father is going to be sleeping for a while." Solomon s gift to his sister this year was her mother and hopefully her freedom. If their plan worked, she would soon be free of the chains of her own mind.

This was the only answer that Solomon and Ugo could think of. After all Ugo could break apart every spell he came across. Find the theory and formula behind them with ease. You see' the niran where very skilled at casting charms and illusions and that is what Sana believes her daughter did. She trapped herself in an illusion of her own making. The collars they wore stopped them from using their powers on others not themselves. Soon they were back in Solomon's rooms. He took Sana to the room he had made up for his sister. When the door opened, Sana ran to where her daughter sat, and held her in her arms for the first time in over a year.

Solomon was ashamed that he had waited so long to bring her here. How many months wasted just so he could present her to her mother whole?

"Are you sure that it's simply an illusion? I removed her collar as soon as I had her back in my rooms, when my, no, _he_ gave her to me."

"Yes, little one, the mind is an amazing thing it well do much to protect itself in times of great stress and trauma. That's how our charms and illusions works we simply show them what they want to see, even if it is not good for them. Now I need you to remove my collar so that I can break the illusion on her."

She could see that he was about to protest, she raised her hand to stop him before he could, "She is young and not a full blooded niran at that, it shouldn't take much on my part to break. They won't even feel my use my powers and as long as you are the one to remove my collar your father won't know either."

Solomon walked over to Sana and removed her collar by hand. With that done he once again joined Arba and Ugo in the door as they waited to see if this would bring her back.

Sana moved to her knees before her daughter. She put her hands on her daughter's head and spoke too softly for the others to hear. She then moved to kiss her on the forehead as her lips made contact with Zara's head there was a bright flash of golden light that filled the room but faded as fast as it appeared.

When they could see again they were shocked to Zara hugging Sana. Not being made to move but doing so of her own free will.

"Mama, I had a bad dream Master David was hitting me and you when you would try and stop him. And then Solomon told him he wanted to be his slave and a test subject."

Zara was sobbing into her mother's shoulder, holding on to her for dear life. Scared that if she let go then the dream would begin again.

"I'm sorry, kit, but that was no dream it happened, but your brother was only trying to get you away from your father. He never planned to use you as a slave or test subject."

"Zara.."

She looked up to see the smiling face of her brother, but he had tears falling from his eyes.

"Why are you crying?"

"Happy birthday, Z." Solomon ignored her question, he really couldn't answer it, he didn't really know either.

Zara soon bounced back to the happy girl she was. Solomon began taking her with him everywhere he went.

* * *

Many more of the other race had been conquered with the help of Solomon. He didn't believe in what he was doing anymore. Just going through the motions to keep his sister and now his friends safe.

His father was watching him closely now, any mistake or misstep could spell the end of any of their lives. Zara was becoming a force to be wretched with. With the help of her mother and brother she was being to control her powers. She did find out that her charms and illusions were nowhere near as strong as the other children of her mother's race, but her ability to control and command fire was far beyond what it should be at her age.

Sana knew that Zara would be different, she couldn't take an animal form or charm very well, but those were purely niran abilities. Her mastery of fire was expected, after all fire was the offensive power of the niran and magician could control it as well.

When David decided to conquer the Continental Rift, it was Solomon that he sent. There Solomon meet the last Dragon of Origin, the Mother Dragon. She told him many things about the world. Over time as he visited her she proved what he was already beginning to believe after that day so long ago. This world wasn't what their god wanted to was cruel and twisted. That was when began to plan his rebellion.

* * *

 **OK, I don't own magi or any of it's story. But I do own Zara, Sana, and the niran race. In the next few chapters some characters that may be familiar to those of you that have read Survivor and seeker well be appearing, those are owned by jaxrond. This story is kinda like a prequel to hers. Now please review! This is the first story I have ever written so some feedback really helps. ;)**

 **Beruji: No need to worry, I have no plans to turn this story into an incestous one. If it gave that feel I'm sorry. I already have plans to put Zara with someone else. Also thanks for pointing out that I was spelling Arba name wrong. That got past me and my beta Jaxrond.**


	6. The Beginning

Solomon had been planning this for weeks. He knew that David would be away checking on the different towers. So now would be the night to free the niran and leave the head church. He was studying the different routes the guards took around the slave pens.

"Are you really sure this is what you want to do, Solomon?" Zara was pacing back and forth in front of her brother. She knew that the main reason behind his desire to leave the church this past year was because of her and her mother.

Solomon watched his sister pacing over the top of his book. He was mildly amused by her attempt to stop him from leaving. The girl had tried everything she could think of to stop him.

"Z, this isn't just about you and your race but all the different races. Each of them have family and friends that are made to fight and kill each other or be mind.."

"Less zombies, I know that Solomon, but this could get you killed. If that man had any idea what you were planning on doing it would spell the end for all of us."

Solomon understood where she was coming from. There was a lot at stake for them. Not just his and his sister's but the life and freedom for all their friends and family. Arba, Ugo and Sana's faces went past his mind's eye. Sana's stood out the most; her gentle smile but, mostly the bruises and scars that had began to appear after Solomon took Zara from his father. He refused to stand back and watch as his father destroyed more innocent lives.

"Z, don't you think that I know that, but I'm tired of watching more innocent beings tortured. Of every time we see your mother she has some new bruise or cut on her face. It needs to end and that's final."

She knew what he meant. Zara, herself couldn't stand to see her mother hurt and shamed the way she was now. But at the same time the thought of losing both her mother and her brother terrified her.

Zara turned to face him. Solomon had never seen such a serious look on her face before. He really looked at her. She wasn't the same sweet little girl anymore, she had been beaten by the man that was also supposed to keep her safe and had seen more than her fair share of battles. The girl was only six and was already a better warrior than some of the magicians ten times her age.

"Do you really think that you can change the world Solomon? There's so much hate," she had sad lost look on her face at that but it quickly turned to a determined one, "but if I can't get you to change your mind then I'll be by your side every step of the way.

Solomon smiled, that was the sister he knew and loved, the one that never gave up. He stood and put his book to the side. He reached for Zara and pulled her into a hug, and patted her head. Solomon pulled back from their hug and moved his hand to his sister's fox ears.

"Your right Z, there is a lot of hate in this world and you have seen more than most, and that's what I want to stop, the hate. I want you to be able to live in a world, where you can find and fall in love. Where your ears and tail don't matter to the people around you."

The two didn't know that they had an audience. Ugo had heard what Solomon had said about Zara s features. He walked over and grabbed one of Zara s ears. He started to rub little circles around the outer edge.

Zara stiffen up, when she felt someone touch her ears, until she heard Ugo's voice.

"You know, she has that with us, right. I could care less what she looks like or who her parents are. To me she's simply little Z, your baby sister and a valuable member of our group."

Solomon smiled. He knew that she had found a place in their small circle, but he wanted her to be able to go out into the world by herself and not worry about being hurt or killed for what she was. At times he felt more like a father to her than her brother.

"So we re really going to do it? Leaving the church and rebelling against the teachings means we can never go back."

Solomon looked up at Ugo, his best friend and teacher. Then passed him where Arba stood waiting. This was it, with a few words their worlds were about to change in ways that none of them ever imagined would happen.

"Yes, the way my father and his men run the church and the world is wrong and I'm going to do everything in my power to stop them. I don't want any of you to feel that you have to come with me."

Ugo and Arba just shook their heads and laughed. There was no way they were going to leave their friend/lord to fight this war alone.  
"When you talk like that it's hard to believe that your only twelve, Solomon, but you have to know that I'm not going to leave either of you. You're the only one who took me seriously."

"You're not going anywhere without me, my lord."

He knew that he wouldn't be alone in this. Arba and Ugo went from servants and powerful tools to friends and family. They would never let Solomon and Zara go into a war alone. Their group was small but powerful and they could turn the tide if they picked their battles wisely.

"I was thinking that the first race we set free be the one that the church wants everyone to think is dead. The niran well be a great asset for us to have but it will shake the blind faith that some magicians have in the church."

He looked around to see if there were in objections to his plan. Ugo looked thoughtful but also troubled. He knew that if any of them would find a flaw in his thinking it would be their genius.

"Well, that is a great plan in theory, Solomon. But you have no way of knowing if the niran will follow us or if we can even free them. As you've pointed out before the world at large doesn't even know that they're alive anymore. So it would stand to reason that they would be heavily guarded with many magical seals and wards to keep them there."

Solomon smiled at his friend. He knew that Ugo never put faith in his own abilities as a magician. There were few if any seals or wards that could stand up to his power. Just as Solomon was going to point his out to him he was cut off by his sister.

"Ugo, please you created half the seals and wards used in defense. I'd stake my best blade on the fact that at least half the wards in place are yours. You really need to stop beating yourself up, you may not have the power that my brother does but your magical genius is far superior to Solomon."

Zara wrapped her arm around his waist and gave him a half hug as she told him that. It helped build up Ugo's pride to know that the two of them believed in him so much. It also terrified him to know that their faith was so strong that a big part of the plan relied on his knowledge of magic.

"What of the human guards? I know that there are at least a few of them and they are expected to check in with the main guard house at hourly intervals." Arba quickly cut in.

Zara looked at her and nodded she knew that as will and had a plan for it.

"If we take out the guards after they check in that gives us about an hour. If we manage to get at least a few of the niran to follow us, they may be able to use a charm or illusion to fool the guard house. And before you ask no they don't have countermeasures in place to keep them safe from charms or illusions. They're so sure of their collars and power that they don't even think that they could be any kind of threat."

The thought that her mother's race was treated like tamed pets pissed Zara off more than she cared to admit. Now that she could wield those powers and abilities that came with being a niran she just how powerful they really were. The church was in for a surprise if they truly believed that that they had broke the fiery spirit that her race possessed. They needed to be reminded why the niran were called _tricksters_ and _deceivers_.

"My mother isn't kept with the others we've always had our own room. If we want to get her as well, we either have to get her before we hit the slave pens or after. If we get her before then we won't have to worry about getting out if the others don't join. If we go after that's another stop we have to make before we can leave. Those last few minutes are going to be dicey as it is. So I think it would be best to get her before we go not after."

"Zara makes a good point, Solomon. Having Sana with us would be a great asset to have. Less of a chance for failure with someone who can properly charm and use illusions." Arba reasoned

"Well I'm so sorry that I can't use charms as well as my kin."

"That's not what I meant Z, you're a great warrior without those things." Arba patted Zara on the the head as she told her that.

Zara never did like that her niran powers weren't as strong as children half her age. Even hinting at the fact that she couldn't do something would send her into little gloomy moods. It was alway funny for Solomon to watch. Solomon laughed at Zara pouting face, even with Arba and Ugo trying to get her to smile.

"We strike tomorrow. David will have been gone for a few days now making it hard for him to return quickly to stop us if word gets out."

* * *

 **I'm so sorry. I finished this last night and decided to post it this morning. I was half awake and forgot to edit it before posting to the story. Now I don't own anything but Zara, Sana and the niran race. Again this story is a prequel to Survivor and Seeker so when our little flower and his sun show up, I do have Jaxrond's permission to use them.**


	7. Golden Flames

So far everything was going as planned. They had managed to free and remove Sana's collar quickly and easily. With Sana and her powers, freeing in the Niran had been easy.

How could things have gone from so good to so horrifying so quickly?

They heard the sound of flesh tearing and saw the blood beginning to pool around her feet. All they could think was that this couldn't be happening.

One moment she had been walking with her mother and the next she was on the ground as she watched the blood drip from the gaping wound in her chest. She could see the ice shards shining like rubies and thought that they looked pretty in the dawn's light.

She knew that she was fading fast and that there was nothing that she or her friends and family could do about it. The wound was mortal and no amount of healing or magic was going to be able to fix her. But she had no regrets. Her people were now free and had a cause worth fighting for.

Sana had heard the whistling of the ice as it moved toward them. She moved quickly to get her kits out of the way as shards of death rained down. She felt the ice as it moved through her body, but she was content in knowing that Solomon and Zara would be ok. That with her sacrifice they could live on to save more lives and free more races from their father's mad reign of terror.

Zara was in a state of shock as she watched her mother hit the ground. She didn't want to believe that the blood pooling was hers. That she was about to lose her after she had finally freed her from David's control. They were finally free. No one should have been able to take that from them now.

She watched as her mother's breathing became more and more labored and knew that the end was near. In that moment something inside of her seemed to snap. As she began to scream in grief fueled rage, golden flames began to climb her body. Her claws became longer and sharper, her fangs more pronounced. The power that her mother had been known for before her enslavement had finally awoken in Zara.

Her rage was fueling her actions as she let loose the power that had been hidden away for so long. Her flames danced around her body as she stood and looked around at the magicians that were attacking them. At the front leading the charge was her father. He was the one responsible for the pain that her mother was in. He was the one to blame for the lost of the family that she was just beginning to know.

Her rage only continued to grow with each thought that passed. Knowing that this could be the end of Solomon, Arba, and Ugo her fire exploded out in a golden wave incinerated any magician caught in its path. Not even their borgs could stand up to the power of her attack.

Solomon knew that his sister was powerful. She could use complex magic attacks and could see the pattern and flow in a battle with ease but this, this was nothing that he had ever seen before. The being that was mindless killing any enemy in her path wasn't the little girl he knew. In that moment he could see why the magicians of the past feared her people so much. If this was what they could do at their peak, it was no wonder that they destroyed their villages and enslaved them to have that power under human control. No, the Niran were their own people they belonged to no one but themselves. Zara was only acting that way because of her grief and rage she would never, under normal circumstances at so mercilessly towards her enemies.

When Sana began to moan in pain, Solomon realized that she was still alive and that there was hope that she could survive this battle. He called to Arba and Ugo to help him stabilize her. He knew even with Zara lost to her rage that she would be able to handle any thing that David throw at them. The other Niran had been able to regroup and were helping her push the magicians back into the city.

The only person who had ever fought against a Niran was David himself and he couldn't stop them all and keep his men in order. The sight of hundreds of giant fire covered foxes with huge claws and fangs was enough to make most of the lesser magicians run in terror. Those that were brave enough to stand and fight were soon used as like toys as the Niran bounced them between them like balls. Using there borgs to roll and throw them. If a borg failed, the magician was pulled apart by fangs or ripped to shreds by claws. The Niran had years upon years of pent of rage and hatred for their captors, just waiting for a chance to attack. By the time that David called for a retreat he had suffered heavy losses.

But so had Solomon and his people. Many of the younger children had been unable to get away from the first wave of ice that had rained from the sky. Those that had, had suffered from numerous wounds from the ice. People had lost arms or legs to the ice and flames that the magicians had sent out. The screams of the dieing on both sides could be heard. This may have been a victory for Solomon on his road to change, but it came with a great cost. There were so many innocent lives lost on both sides. When the fighting started they had been in the city before Solomon had managed to get them to outskirts.

Homes had been destroyed, families killed that had nothing to do with his father's reign. Even if they had been innocent their loss was much easier for Solomon to take as he didn't know them. He hadn t promised them a place free from chains and collars. From the pain of watching as your children were ripped from your arms. Of watching your loved one being raped or tortured. Hearing them cry out your name and knowing that you could do anything to help them. He felt that he had failed the Niran. They had lost so much in this, and if they couldn't get get to a safe place soon they would also lose their matriarch. Sana was fading fast and there wasn't much they could do about on a battlefield. So Solomon gave the order to retrieve the wounded and leave the dead and dying. They were too few to be able to help them all. It killed him inside to know that he would be leaving some to die alone, but they had no choice. Not if they wanted to save the women he was beginning to see as a mother.

* * *

 **Ok, I don't own magi. This chap took me forever. I rewrote it like five or six times. So when my beta got back form her trip I had her read it so I would stop driving myself crazy. Anyways hope you enjoy and please reveiw.**

 **lizy2000: Thx I love writing the parts when they bond... I think Solomon would make a great father kinda sad he never got the chance with Aladdin.**

 **beruji: When I first thought of them playing with her ears...I was playing with my dog's ears. I told my Co writer about it and she thought it was cute.**


	8. Last moments and New beginnings

**I don't own magi (even if I wish I did), but Zara, Sana and the Niran race do belong to me!**

* * *

They say that your life flashes before your eyes in your last moments. One steady stream of memories, beginning to end. But that's not what really happens. No, it's the memories you treasure the most that your mind lets you relive, and sometimes the darkest you wish to seal away.

Sana looked out across her village and watched as the sun began to sink behind the horizon. It was her favorite time of day, that moment between night and day, as the sun turned the sky to brilliant fiery red then slowly soften it to the palest of purples.

She always liked to compare her people to the sunset. They started out as fiery as an early sunset but years tempered them down, much like the pale colors you see.

It was there as she watched the sink down and the last ray of light touched her face that the man she loved asked her to be his. She could almost feel Azim touch her hand. The cold glide of the ring as it slide up her finger, the joy of knowing she would be spending the rest of her life loving him.

The day of her wedding was next memory that her god decided to gift her with. She could hear her elder as he went through the ceremony. She could still feel the butterflies as the jumped and danced around her stomach. And then her mate's hands as he touched her face. She watched as he smiled at her and leaned in to give her their first kiss as husband and wife.

Ah, but their god could be as cruel as he was sweet. Their son laid dead from a magician's foul magic. He had barely lived before he called him home. Not long after she had lost her son she lost her freedom, but with the loss of her freedom she gained the child she had longed for.

She could hear her daughter's gurgles and giggles. She remembered her first steps and the joy that she saw in not only her own eyes but that of her master's. Then came the first attempts at words. Soon she was able to say "mamma" and "papa", then the proper "father" for her master.

Then the dark days before Solomon saved her daughter from her once kind and loving father. When she was forced to watch as he beat her and starved her. Knowing that if she tried to help it would just make it worse for both of them. Then she found out that Solomon had outwitted his father and took her daughter away. Oh the joy that news brought even with the pain that he now dealt her in place of her daughter.

Then to see her daughter again only to be forced to bring her out of a trap of her own making. How proud she felt that her little girl could use her power so quickly. The sight of her using her flames. Watching as she molded them to her will. It was no easy feat to bend fire to one's will, for it could so easily rage out of control.

She watched as her daughter's brother freed her people, a promise a long time coming. She laughed with her brothers and sisters and hugged those she had not seen since Zara was young. She couldn't be happier until she sensed the movement of the wind. Turned to see the sunrise give the ice an eerie red glow. She knew that if she did nothing that her kits would be beyond her reach forevermore.

The next thing she knew was the burning pain in her chest and the sound of screams and the anguished cries of her daughter. It took all she had to pull herself from the edge. To focus on the sound of his son calling to her to come back. That Zara still needed her. That he still needed her, they wouldn't have made it this far without her. She smiled it was a nice thought but Solomon was a smart boy he would have seen the beauty in the other races without her and Zara.

She then heard the one called Ugo, that her daughter so adored. How he was saying that they couldn't seem to stop Zara's rage and they were worried that they were going to lose them both. That wouldn't do, she didn't just risk her life for her daughter to throw it away in a suicide charge at the enemy. She called what was left of her rukh and sent it to calm to Zara. In hope that the rage would subside.

* * *

 _"Zara"_ she could almost hear her mother's voice calling to her. But that was impossible her mother was gone thanks to that man. The man who now hid behind his men like a coward.

 _"Zara!"_

She was almost too far gone in her rage to stop, but she felt her this time. Not just her voice but the gentle touch of her arms and the soft feeling of her mother's fur as her tail glided down her arm.

 _"Zara, you need to stop. I'm gone, there's no stopping that, but your people and your brother need you. Please stop before you kill yourself. Fire is a beautiful thing, our golden flames more than most, but if you let them rage out of control, it's not you who will win but him. The rebellion will have lost not only one but two of it founding members. He will have one less person to stand in the way of his reign of hate. So please, baby, come back to us."_

Solomon knew she was gone this time. He had felt the passing of her spirit. But he truly knew that she was no longer of this world after his sister stopped her rampage she collapsed to her knees and cried.

After her mother's body was buried Zara began to have her doubts about her brother's plan for freedom and equality. Was it really worth the cost of some many innocent lives? They didn't even know if all they had sacrificed would be enough in the end. How many more people would they have to sacrifice on the altar of destiny for it to be enough? Would it have been better to have just stayed in the capital and waited until Solomon took over the church when David stepped down?

Ugo had been watching Zara. He knew that something was wrong, beyond losing her mother. True they had expected her to be quiet and withdrawn. But this was far beyond that. The way she acted was far too close to the days when she was trapped in her own mind for Ugo to ignore. Arba and Solomon were to busy leading the rebellion to pay any mind to her now. They thought she would come around, that she needed time to get over the lose.

Ugo became like Zara's shadow. Always there to make sure she wasn't alone. That she was taking care of herself. He knew that Solomon and Arba loved her and that they really thought that giving her space was what she needed, and they may have been right if she was older. Zara was _six_. Yes, she was more mature for her age than most. That's not to say that Zara didn't know that her mother was gone that she had joined with their beloved god once more. What Ugo was worried about was who she was placing the blame on.

Zara was far too scared to voice her doubts as she watched them make plans for the next battle. All she could see over and over again was her mother's final moments. She remembered little of the battle that followed she had be too lost to the rage inside. Another of the things that frightened her. What if she lost control again? She could remember her mother telling her over and over that when one played with fire they had to be prepared to get burned a time or two. She had always ignored her warnings she believed she had complete control over her flames. How wrong she was.

They couldn't stay in one place for long. The constant running wasn't helping any of their mental states. Solomon knew that the path he wanted to walk wasn't going to be an easy road but he never imagined it like this. He had always pictured one glorious battle to the next, never the running and hiding that they were forced to endure now. He knew that someone could fall in the battles to come but he had never really thought of the pain and heartache of truly losing someone. Sana was becoming the mother he had never known and the pain of losing her was unbearable at times, but Solomon needed to put on a brave face. He was the leader of the resistance, he had to be their strength, the one they looked to when they felt they couldn't go now.

"Solomon, I really think that Zara should sit this battle out."

Zara's head snapped up at Ugo's words. No, she needed this. She needed something to take her mind off her mother's death and her lost of control. If she was forced to sit and wait for them to come back, her mind would wander more. She couldn't bare the thought of doubting her brother's words and ideals anymore than she was beginning too.

"What are you talking about, Ugo? We need her power now more than ever. There's no telling if the Niran will listen to one of us after what happened to Sana."

When Arba brought up what happened to Sana as a reason for Zara to go, Ugo nearly lost it himself. He just glared at her. How could she not see what was happening? Zara was lost and in pain and none of them seemed to notice or care about it.

"That's just it, Arba, she just lost her mother and you want to throw a _six year old_ girl back into battle like nothing happened. Look at her! She hasn't spoken, her ears are always pressed against her head, and her tail is hugging her body! How in the hell can you think this little girl is ready to go out and fight again. I haven't even known Zara as long as you two and I could see that something was wrong."

Solomon and Arba were shocked. They had never seen Ugo so mad before. But they really looked at her at that point and they realized that Ugo was right. Zara may be physically fine but mentally she needed some time.

"You and Solomon can go on this mission without us this time. The Niran have been helping this far. I'm sure if they knew just how much Zara needed time away from this they would understand."

With that Ugo turned to Zara and offered her his hand. He wouldn't let her fall between the cracks. He didn't want her to grow to be a mindless killing tool. He knew that Solomon felt that way too but he was simply too focused on the resistance and now making sure that Sana's death meant something.

Zara looked at his offered hand. She wasn't really sure what he wanted. She was scared that if she took it all her fears and doubt would be realized.

"I promise that you're going to be fine. You just need to get away from the violence of the battlefield. You need time to mourn and heal from her lose. I know that the pain of losing her well never really fade away. You're always going to miss her and but the hole inside will get smaller over time."

Zara shook her head with a sad, tired look on her face. She really didn't believe that the pain would lessen or the hole inside would ever shrink.

"How could you possibly know if the pain will go away? You have no idea what I'm feeling or what it's like to lose the person who means the world to you."

Ugo smiled at her. Her words may have been meant to shred him to pieces but they really didn't have much of a bite. He knew she was just lashing out and he was the closest outlet.

"Sana may have meant more to you than to me, but I feel her loss too. For the simple fact that she gave us you, and without you Solomon may have never left the Church. Now, Zara, is this really what your mother wanted when she pushed you and Solomon clear of the ice? For you to sit in your corner and doubt yourself and the cause that you believed so passionately for?"

When Zara attempted to talk in her defense Ugo stopped her before she could even start.

"Zara, give me as many excuse and reasons why you started this with Solomon as you want, but we all know you wanted your mother and your people free as much as Solomon did. I myself didn't like to see you with a collar on when we had to leave our home. But the main reason I joined with Solomon was I was tired of being ignored and ridiculed for my beliefs and theories. We all have our reasons for being here. They may not be as grand as a world of equals like Solomon dreams but they mean something to us."

Zara looked up, a thoughtful look and slight blush on her face.

"You're right, Ugo, I need to remember why I wanted to do this with Solomon. I need to grow up and stop acting like a spoiled brat."

Ugo shook his head, "Yes, I wanted you to remember why you wanted to fight but you weren't acting like a brat. You had every right to mourn the passing of your mother. I just wanted you to stop blaming yourself and the world for her death. You need to remember who took her from you," he gently placed his hands on her shoulder and pulled her into a hug, "This world has forced both you and Solomon to grow up so quickly. Just don't forget to be a kid every now and then. Pull pranks, make your brother's life miserable, and have fun. You can take as much time as you want before you step on the battlefield. I would rather wait to fight by your side then have you there only physically."

She took Ugo's hand and let him pull her up. She knew that he was right. Her brother's ideals and the world that he dreamed of was one worth fighting for. After all her mother believed that they could do it together.

"Thank you, Ugo. Maybe some time to clear my head is just what I need."

With the time that Ugo had helped gift her with, she decided to get to know her people better. She only knew what her mother had been able to teach her in recent years and that wasn't much. It was during one of her visits with the Niran that Arba followed her.

She really took to heart what Ugo had said. He was right, her and Solomon had been with Lady Zara the longest they should have known that something was wrong. She had started to check up with Zara. She didn't like the thought of her failing her. She wanted to make sure she was doing better. She couldn't count the number of times that Zara had nearly given her a heart attack. Nor could she say that she was completely happy with everything the Niran were teaching her little lady. But if that was part of her mother's culture then Zara needed to know it.

This time Solomon took his time to plan out the next attack. He wanted to leave nothing to chance. With more magicians and the some of the Niran warriors to help, he was fairly sure that there would be no surprises this time.

* * *

After a month of planning Solomon felt they were ready for the next attack. As promised they let Zara sit this one out. She never knew how nerve wracking it could be to sit and wait for news, any kind be it good or bad. But they were finally back with new allies, one of which Zara found she didn't care for.

"I don't like her," Zara was pouting about the newest member to join the resistance. All she seemed to do is hang onto Ugo and, for some reason, it really ticked her off.

Arba and Solomon just looked at each other and smirked. They knew that Zara had a bit of a crush on Ugo, even if Zara herself didn't realize it yet.

"Oh, and why is that? She seems to be perfectly pleasant person," Arba said trying her best not to laugh as Zara's face grew redder and redder. It was so fun teasing the girl about it. Her reactions were priceless and worth the prank that would no doubt follow this.

"Yeah, Z, she actually pretty nice and she knows so much about the hermit tribe!" Solomon said with stars in his eyes. Just the thought of picking her brain later had him practically giddy. Oh, all the different things he could learn from her. The hermit tribe may be free but they were still a little leery of humans. Which giving the circumstances he understood, but knowing more about them would help with relations later on and just the thrill of learning was just learning something new was enough for him.

"No, she's not! If she's not hanging on you she's on him and I don't like it. You're my big brother and Ugo's my.." She stopped at a lost for words.

"He's your what, Z? Come on, tell me."

Zara whole face turned red, and she turned and glared at her brother. What did he know? It's true that she wasn't quite sure what Ugo was to her but he was _her's_ , even if he didn't know that yet, and that two bit floozy was all over him.

Solomon thought it was funny, mostly because Ugo was far too old for his sister. Not to mention Ugo didn't do well with women, especially ones he didn't know well. He was pretty sure if she just left well enough alone, Paimon would get bored with Ugo's blushing and cringing. All and all it was nice to have another magician capable of using a divine staff, even if his sister had a jealousy problem.

If she pushed her breast against his arm one more time, Zara swore that all her pretty black hair was going to fall off. Aaand she did it again, ok that was it she was going to put new found pranking skills to good use. Zara began making plans, she had noticed that Paimon liked to brush her hair right out of the bath, and she took a good hour just doing her hair and make-up. This was going to be so much fun.

* * *

 **I'm actually pretty proud of myself. This is the longest chapter I've written, and Paimon and the hermit tribe from the manga have been introduced. The next few tribes well be introduced together. As will the some of the Divine Staff wielders. I'm sure that not all of the magician's in the towers joined with Solomon and his cause. Ok I hope you guys enjoyed this new chapter, and please review any feedback would be very welcome.**

 **Also fun fact incase you didn't know: Baby foxes are called kits, that's why at times Sana called Zara her kit or thought of her as her kit.**


	9. New friends

"This world is so different than the one I was taught to believe. The other races are not the monsters I was led to believe they were."

She had a sad almost forlorn looked on her face as thought about all the time she had spent in that tower. The beings she had inadvertently killed, the families she had destroyed with her blind faith in the teaching. She had never thought that they could be wrong, that her path was not pure and just, and death should have been her punishment. She was unsure why Solomon and his group believed that she deserved to live. But she had decided that she would spend the rest of it protecting the dream that Solomon had.

Zara turned to the women by her side. Not long ago she hated her with a passion and would have gladly seen her gone. But the Paimon that had joined them so long ago wasn't here now. She was beginning to see the good in the other races. To see that they weren't monster to be feared, but beings that needed protection from the true monsters of this world, David and his lot.

"No, they can be if pushed to that point. Never forget that. But they are like us, they wish to live in peace with their loved ones, but when forced they can become the monsters that the magicians say they are. Just like any being, take Solomon," she pointed to her brother who was playing with a group of kits,"right now you would never know that boy could destroy legions of soldiers with but a few words and smile as he did. My brother is a kind and caring person but if you were to raise your hand against any one of us, he would became a monster in the eyes of some. _Monster_ is a relative term it can mean anything to the one who uses it. Not to long ago you thought I was one simply for being mixed breed."

Paimon smiled sadly when she remembered all she had said and done to Zara during that time. Not that Zara hadn't giving as good as she got. She shivered when she thought to she first came here and pissed Zara off. Her hair had been green for a week before Solomon and Ugo finally figured out how to turn it back and get rid of the rash on her face.

"Yes, well you can be a bit of a monster but not in the way I once thought. I'm glad that we've become, well not really friends but you don't want to kill me half the time."

"Your pretty neat when you're not flirting with Solomon and Ugo. Now the real reason I asked you here was because I'm going to need help. We're going after a new tower soon and that means we're going to need a clinic of sorts set up. I know that healing isn't your area of magic but making people shut up and listen is. So I want you to organize the healers that are staying behind and help supply those that are going to be on the front lines with us. I don't think you should have to much trouble with it."  
Paimon thought on what Zara wanted. It should be easy enough to do. Sometimes it shocked her that the girl wasn't even ten yet, and that was until she did something like that. That being upon seeing Ugo and Solomon walking toward them she took off running and tackled the two boys, only when she was with those two did she act her age.

"So, I take it you missed us?"

"Hmm, not at all." After that she hugged them even tighter.

"You know if you squeeze us any tighter we may pop." Solomon was laughing as he tried to detangle himself.

"If you were that breakable we would have lost by now."

Arba pulled Zara off as she spoke, still it was nice that Zara was being her playful self once more.

"How are the new magicians coming along, any problems? Paimon and I have began to set up the clinic and healers here for after the next raid."

She stood and brushed the dirt from her pants.

"No, I'm afraid we're going to hit two towers this time."

Zara head shot up. Two towers but that would mean they would need twice as many healers. They did have life magic users but not enough that knew how to heal.

"Why? That's too dangerous, we don't have the healers to handle the wounded. We'll have more fatalities that way, and our fighting force isn't even that big!? How could you think that this was a good idea Solomon, have you forgotten what happened last time you didn't think a plan through?" She was yelling by the end of it. The memories of losing her mother came to mind.

"Zara," he took her by her shoulders to stop her pacing,"did you forgot that I've been gone meeting with the hermits? They have agreed to help us. They too wish for an equal world, one were they don't have to live in fear. Also because for some unheard of reason Amon, their leader, likes a cute little fox girl. I believe he said that she was a spunky little thing that didn't seem to be afraid of anything or anyone."

And with that Solomon took the wind right out of Zara's sails. She couldn't be mad now that she knew that there was going to be more warriors.

"Still hermits can't use magic and they will be at the mercy of the towers again. I don't think that this will work Solomon."

"Well, maybe in the past that would have been a problem but Ugo has found a way to change the divine staffs to work with other species. With the help of the divine staff their minds will be safe from the towers."

* * *

This was the first time Zara had been on the battlefield since her mother's death. She had forgotten just exciting and terrifying it could be. You never knew if this battle would be your last or if you would be responsible for lost a mother or father.

As she raced down the halls hoping and praying that they wouldn't be too late to help the poor soul trapped in the control room. A blast of fire wrapped around her borg stopping her from seeing or moving forward.

She took a breath and tried to remember what the elder taught her about her abilities. One that was well hidden and powerful against the right opponent and these mages just so happened to be right ones to test it out on. After all fire was the life blood of her mother's people they couldn't be killed by it, but they could make it their own.

"Ugo"

Just his name, that's all he needed to hear to know that that she was going to try something. Something that she wasn't completely sure would work or if she could control.

She brought her blade up and called to the flames dancing around their borgs.

They were shocked when the Niran filth they had hoped to burn, not only lived but was using the very flames they had sent at her. Not that they had long to be shocked.

"Umm that's new."

Ugo was standing back wide eyed.

"So umm you can turn fire back on it castor now?"

"I guess, wasn't sure if I would be able to being that I'm a half-breed.", she turned to Ugo with a shrug, "Didn't think I could make it any worse if I tried."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I make you mad."

She smirked at him with an almost evil grin and told him.

"Now Ugo why would I do that? It just take the fun right out of it."

Not sure if she was really joking or not he decided that it would be better if they just got to the control room. He turned toward what he thought would be the remaining magicians only to find that Zara's new power was stronger than they thought. Only piles of black ash remained, she had used their own power to incinerate them.

Zara noticed the look on Ugo's face and decided to tell him how she did it. He did love to discover more about magic.

"I didn't really mean to kill them. I simply hoped that I would wound them enough to keep them from the battlefield. But I think that all three of them used a fire spell so when I turned it back on them, it was at least twice as powerful than before when you add in my own power."

Ugo looked up and nodding his head in understanding.

"So basicly that skill turns the enemy's own power against them, but also mixes in a bit of the user's own magoi it help control it better."

"Ahh yea, umm Ugo could we please continue on to the control room. Also there may be more enemies coming at any moment."

By that point Ugo had grabbed on to Zara's hand and was almost in her face as he began to understand what she had done. Poor Zara looked like she was about to faint with as close as he was to her.

* * *

"No, how could they do something like this? They were so young."

Zara teared up as she looked at the scene before her. They didn't even know if they were going to lose but they killed them anyway. She would have understood if they had just took the divine staffs to keep them out of enemy hands but this was senseless. All this young men and women killed on the off chance that they could talk them into joining with them.

"They more than likely got fed the "Your death will be for the greater good and that god is waiting for you" line so they would be more than willing to die for them. I don't think a single one of them fought back."

"Ugo they need a proper burial, they didn't deserve to be left laying out like trash. Please take care of it after this."

As she turned to the leave the room she took one last look at the innocents killed. Some looked no older than herself, but most looked closer to her big brother's age, not that just looking could judge one's age. Then she saw it out of the corner of her eye, one of them moved.

At first she thought that it was just her imagination, but when she saw him move again she knew that at least one had survived this senseless massacre. That's when she began to run, she was going to make sure at least one person survived this.

Even if all she got out of it was to show one person that they weren't the monster the church painted them.

When she reached them and got a good look at his wound she could tell that he hadn't just stood there like an animal to be killed. No this one had fought back. He had a death grip on his staff. His face was a mass of blood and bone. He went down when one of their attacks made it through his borg. That must have been what she had heard on the way here. His last ditch effort to survive. God, she hoped he made it after this but even if he does he was most likely going to lose his eye.

"Zara?"

It was kinda shocking how the four of them could say so much with just a name. In that moment he was asking why she had run and if she needed help and if he needed to be on alert of more enemies.

"I'm fine and Nuria just gave the clear, no needed to be alarmed. We do need a healer here as soon as possible. One of them survived. It looked like he may have fought back."

Moving him was surprisingly difficult for her, being that she was stronger than most humans her age and older. But this boy was at least twice as big as Solomon.

"Please, Lady Zara we can take it from here."

She looked up and stared at the healers that had come at Ugo's call. She didn't know most of them and that worried her.

"Fine, but he's to receive the same care as if he was one of us. It wasn't his fault that he was put here, and I believe that he fought back at the end. He may join us if he survives and even if he doesn't choose too, we are not the monsters the church makes us out to be. Remember that."

She needed to know that she was leaving him in good hands. Something told her that this man would become a key part of her brother's household someday, but only if he survives. She waited for her words to sink in before she stood to leave.

It was later after her brother and his party returned that she learned that the boy had in fact fought back in last few moments and the wound she was worried about wasn't as bad as she had first thought but she was correct about his eye.

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long for this one. Golden Love: another world kept bouncing around in my head so that didn't help. I got a bit of writers block after that but here it is and I've started one the next chapter I'm hoping that the light work week I have coming up will be put to good use. So another Tower clear and a certain one eyed perv introduced, not sure what species I'm going to bring in with these two towers so if there's any you would like to see ask away. Any question or concerns feel free to leave a review.**


	10. An Old Foe

"So I heard you had a bit of fire problem."

Zara looked up to see one of her cousins leaning against the door. He was one of the few who liked to tease and degrade for her heritage and the problems and limitations that came with it. As tempting as it was to raise to the bait that he dangled, she knew that it would do her no good. He would always see her father and his brutality when he looked at her, never the girl that she was.

"As much as I would just _love_ to tell you all about the battle that, if I remember correctly you were suppose to be a part of, I have some people waiting for me and I really shouldn't keep them any longer."

"Oh please, as if the likes of _you_ are really needed any where. They're probably thanking their lucky stars that I saved them for having to endure your revolting presence. You're nothing, Zara. A being that shouldn't existence in this world or any other. Next time you try to use an ability that Aunt Sana passed on to you remember that you're no Niran and that our flames weren't meant for an abomination like you."

With every word he spoke he took a step closer to her until he was looming over her. A face of hate and discrimination. It was true that her birth wasn't something that her mother ever really wanted. She was created in hate and a bid to show who was in power.

But she never once doubted that her mother loved her. Solomon would show much he cared daily if not hourly at times. Not to mention Arba who was teaching her the art of the sword and Ugo who taught her magic theory and history. She knew that no matter how much she did for her mother's people some who forever view her that way. She learned that two years ago after her mother died and she turned to them for help and comfort.

The elders welcomed her with open arms after her display of power on that day but many couldn't see past the color of her eyes like how magicians wouldn't look past her ears and tail.

"No, Zahir. I know that my family is waiting and most likely beginning to worry about why I haven't made my way there. Also my teachers are waiting as well. I know that I will never be family or worthy of the position that my mother's death gave me in your eyes but I'm still your princess and I deserve more respect than this. If you feel the need to attack my lack of skills fine but never and I do mean never call me an abomination again. Have I made myself clear? After all I have a bit of a fire problem remember? You never know when I might just lose it. If you happen to get burned in the crossfire, well accidents do happen cousin dear."

With that she pushed passed her cousin only to walk into her brother's chest. He had come looking for her when she hadn't shown up on time, and he wasn't alone. Arba was with him as well as a few of the elders of the tribe. The people who were going to be teaching her today if she remembered correctly.

Solomon wasn't happy with what he had heard. It was true that in recent years that he wasn't keeping as close an eye on Zara as he had after her mother's death. But that didn't mean he wouldn't still tear someone apart for looking at her wrong. Maybe it was time that he reminded people just how much she still meant to him and why you didn't mess with her.

"Solomon, Arba, I know what you're thinking and I'm telling you now that it's not worth it. Zahir is harmless. Yes I know that he doesn't care for me and he wouldn't shed a tear if I died tomorrow but that doesn't mean that you need to hurt him when there have been many like him and there will be many more. Now I'm sorry that I was late."

Solomon took a breath before he spoke. He didn't want to say anything in haste. He knew that Zara was right and he could read between the lines. It wouldn't do for the leaders of the resistance to attack a kit of the Niran race even if the twerp deserved it.

"It's fine sis. We were just going to talk about the two new races that have joined us and of the divine staff holder that you managed to save."

Arba took a step forward at that. After she got her own emotions under control she too could see that it wasn't the wisest of moves to attack the little brat.

"They need some more time before they feel safe enough to leave us and go back to their homes with a staff, and the young man that you saved will be just fine. He lost his eye to an attack. That was the worst wound that he received but given enough time he will be back on his feet. Maybe sooner than we think if we go by how much he flirts."

After they were done discussing the various things that needed to be done following such a big battle. They went their separate ways, Solomon planning and plotting and Arba just seemed lost in thought. Zara left with her instructors for the day.

"So miss Zara, I thought that you weren't going to take your place on the throne?"

Zara looked a little ashamed when they asked. She shouldn't have lied to Zahir about that. Granted she had no plans to become the leader of her people like her mother before her, but she was still his princess.

"I'm not, but that doesn't mean that he should be able to talk to me like that. I have done everything in my power the last few years to learn what I could about our culture and my powers. I know that there will be some things I just won't be able to do. I can't change that no matter how much I wish I could. I love what I have learned about my mother's.. No _my people_ and I'm not going to let a few bad apples stop me from learning more."

"That's true Zara, but remember that forcing them to show you respect simply for being their princess will get you none. Those that don't give it are the ones that only see the color of your eyes and not the girl herself. These people came to hate that side of you for good reason. Just as the new magicians that your brother recruits only see your ears and tail. Most can't look past the side that they fear and hate to see the side that's like them."

"You're right but if they're going to work and fight by my side I need to know that they have my back. That I'm going to be safe with them. I love you guys. Hell I don't even hate Zahir and he tries to make my life as hard as possible."

The elders looked to one another and smiled. They knew that if their little fox wanted she would make a fine leader some day. If only they could get her to see beyond her brother and his vision. They had time yet maybe just maybe some day they would get her to see the light that was her fate.

"You know, I like the happy go lucky side of you guys. This discussion is getting way too serious for a bunch of Niran. We're suppose to be fun loving tricksters not… well this."

The shocked looks on theirs faces were something that she would never forget. She busted out laughing at them. Granted she knew that the air headed pranks were just a front to throw people off, but it was fun to mess with their heads when she made them think that she believed it too.

"Now about that _fire_ problem I have, you think that you could help me with it? I'm not real sure what I did wrong. I understand the concept of it, but the execution and control of it is a little hard. Not to mention it's not something I can just practice with Ugo or Solomon. If I mess up I could seriously hurt or kill one of them and that's a risk I'm not willing to take."

"I'd be more than happy to help you with this trick little kit. It's best you learn how to control this now. It will help you with many powerful and difficult skills that you will learn when you're older."

Adar was soon engulfed in flames and where he once stood was a giant fox. Zara had seen people change into their beast forms before but never this close. She could feel the heat for the flames and the pressure of the magic used. It was heavy almost like when Solomon went all out. It was proof in her eyes that some of the other species could use some forms of magic without a third eye.

"Up you go little kit, we need to go to a place that is open with few people to get caught in the crossfire."

"Adar, do you think I'll ever be able to this? To let the fire inside change me the way it does rest of the tribe."

Zara voice was little more than a whisper. As much as she liked to act as her half breed status didn't affect her, deep down it killed her that there would always been things that she couldn't do. That some skills would never be as strong as they should. That she could never really be whole in a sense.

"No, I don't think that you will. The part of you that came from your father simply can't be changed it was never meant to be more that what we see. But that doesn't mean that you need to beat yourself up little one. Your mastery over fire is like nothing I have ever seen before. No niran or human has ever been able to mold it the way that you do. It comes to you so easily. Yes it's true that there will be some things that you can't do but you're only looking at it one way."

At this point they had made it to their destination. It was seclude empty stop just past the camp, mostly rocky with a few trees trying to cling to life here and there. Most of the camp used it as a practice field.

"What do you mean "only looking at it one way" what other way is there to look at it. I'm not fully human or niran."

He smiled at her and shook his head.

"That's just it you're not one or the other you're both together. Think about little kit. If you can't use illusions as a niran would then make them with magic but add our tricks in too. There's no one else in this world like you Zara. In my opinion your what this perfect world your brother dreams will look like. If we're all equals people will stop seeing race and species and just see the man or woman. I think that if your brother's world comes to be there will be many more half breeds. You need to pave the way for them, show them what a child of two tribes can be; what they can do. So stop thinking niran ability or magician's magic, found a way that is both together and wholly you."

He watched as she slowly began to process what he said and what he hoped she would do. It wouldn't be easy, there would be a lot of trial and error but he was sure that his little lady would find a way. She was a quick study and she wouldn't be in this alone. He had no doubt that Solomon would jump at the chance to learn just what she could really do and help her find out.

She had never thought about combining the two parts of her, but Adar was right. What she couldn't as Niran she could as the mage and vice versa. If she could learn to combine things into one, fire spells, illusions and charms. It was a lot to think about but first she would still need to learn how to do them the right way before she could change them to fit her. This could be really fun. She could ask Solomon or Ugo to help and maybe Arba. She was stronger than a normal human, she was sure that could help her with her sword fighting and her stamina in battle. If she did mostly fire spells…

"Now little one, I can see the wheels turning and I know if I let you go we'll never get our training in. So before you run off to ask for help maybe you should know a few tricks to improve on."

Zara shot up and with a new fire burning in her eyes she all but yelled out "Yes, Sensei!"

* * *

 **ok, this took a little longer than I thought that it would but here it is. I kinda wanted to focus on Zara a little and show that some of the her mother's people do blame her for what happened to them. Also my beta's out of the country at the moment so if I made any mistakes please don't be afraid to point them out... I'm sure there's plenty. Hope you like the chapter and enjoy!**


	11. Slave or monster?

Many years passed and allies came and went. They were no longer a small force, but one that the Church had begun to fear. Stories of the resistance were used to scare magician children into behaving and as a beacon of hope for the tribes still under the Church's power.

Over the years Zara's small circle of friends and family grew. She now had two older brothers that could be even worse than Solomon at times, and an older sister that wasn't afraid to push her buttons and treated her like she was normal. To them she wasn't a half breed, just their leader's little sister and, at times, theirs too. She was just Zara to them, nothing more or less.

For some it didn't start that way. Falan wouldn't even look at her when she first joined. But Zara was pretty hard to ignore and when she was determined to break past others' walls. She knew that Wahid liked the girl and she refused to be a monster in her eyes.

Wahid, he was the man that owed Zara his life. If she hadn't been in charge of the raid on his tower they would have believed him dead. Knowing this, he was one of the few that Zara never really had to prove herself to. He always said that he already knew that. If the humans could kill every person in the control room just to keep their power from falling into Solomon's hands, when most of them were more than loyal to the Church, then, in his eyes, they were the monsters, and the little girl who had every right to hate the Church but chose to save one of them wasn't.

Ithnan and Setta were brothers, or at least they said they were. They had been freed in the other tower that Solomon's team raided when Zara's team freed Wahid and Focalor's tribe. Ithnan was the one who usually helped Zara with her pranks and was one of her closest friends. Setta acted as another older brother. He was the one that made sure that nothing happened to Zara when Solomon and his main group where away.

Zara stopped for a moment when she felt eyes watching her. She wasn't paranoid normally, but they were in the middle of a war and the main force was away, taking another tower. She wouldn't put it past her father to sacrifice his men to try and take the base while her brother and family were gone.

She started going through her different stances again, if someone was watching her with the intention to do her and her people harm it wouldn't do to tip them off that she had sensed their interest. If one only glanced it would like she was dancing. In a way they wouldn't be wrong. It was a dance, just a very deadly one.

The light bounced off the metal of her daggers, hitting the ruby at the base of the golden hilt and making it look as if fire danced across her skin.

Zara's eyes continued to scan the sky and surrounding countryside to find the source of her discontent. It was then that she spotted the old fox sleepy watching her work.

Adar smiled softly as he look at his little lady work. It still amazed him just how far she had come in three short years. Now the only people to call the girl a monster were the magicians they fought. With each passing day she began to look more and more like her mother.

Her eyes no longer held the innocence that once draw so many to her side. Her blue eyes now had a hard edge put there by the harshness of war. Her hair grown to the middle of her back. She had chosen to leave most of it flowing behind her as a homage to her mother but a small bit was pulled back and braided in a similar fashion to her brother and Arba. She was to her brother's shoulder in height but her smaller size allowed her to move past most defenses before they even knew she was there.

"You know sensei, it's not polite to stare. And frankly it's just creepy when an old man stares at a young girl."

Zara's voice snapped Adar out of his thoughts. Once he processed what she had said he laughed.

"Now little lady only a fool would look at you with impure eyes. It would be like signing their own death warrant with your brother being who he is."

"I suppose that's true enough bu-"

"But what, Z? We both know that when it comes to you I can be a little unreasonable."

She turned around ready to throw herself into her brother's arms, until she noticed the bundle he carried. As she walked closes she noticed that it seemed to move every few seconds. On closer inspection she noticed the map of red hair that rested on her brother's shoulder.

Zara wasn't sure just how to process the fact that _her_ brother was holding another girl. After all Solomon had never really shown any interest in females of any tribe. And that was saying something when most of them walked around with little to no clothing on and he was a teenage boy.

Arba was trying her hardest not to laugh at Solomon's panicked look as his sister continued to glare at him. She knew that Solomon didn't really think about the fact that he was still carrying Sheba and what that would mean to his sister when she saw him. After all, she was a big brother's girl, she loved him a little too much at times, truth be told.

"Now, Zara, the poor girl passed out after we took her out of the control room. She was the only survivor and Solomon made it to her first, so he was the one who had to carry her. There's really no reason for the death glare. She's not going to take your brother away from you."

As she listened to Arba's explanation her face slowly changed from anger to sorrow and then humor as she pictured the look on Solomon's face when he was informed that this girl was going to be his problem now. After all the person that saves you is the one that's put in charge of you. It makes it easier on everyone. That way the savee has at least one person that they're comfortable with, and when they're ready they can get to know the rest of the "family" without being overwhelmed.

As soon as it hit just what Arba said and what it most likely meant. Zara's evil glare came back. She reached up and grabbed her brother's arm before beginning to slowly drag him to the healers. She knew that part of the reason he didn't want to take the poor girl there was he himself never really cared for healers. Solomon had mostly likely hoped that someone would take pity on him or her and take her themselves to save him the trouble. As they made their way there she began to scold him for not taking her there first.

"If she passed out, why did you bring her here? Shouldn't you have taken her straight the healer's quarters? My god, Solomon, what were you thinking? What if she was hurt or her magic is depleted more than you thought?"

It was moments like this that Zara really reminded Solomon of her mother. He could remember when Sana had scolded him in a similar fashion about Zara. He watched as she pulled him toward the healer's quarters, ranting and raving about this and that. The girl, Sheba, couldn't be much older than Zara. Maybe she would finally have someone her own age to befriend. Then she could finally be a child not the faux adult that this world had forced her become.

* * *

She slowly opened her eyes, only to close them again when the light of the lamps began to burn her eyes. She tried to remember where she was. From what little she had seen before she closed her eyes again, this was not the Gunud. She was desperately trying to remember what had happened before she passed out. Also, if she was here, then who was manning the control room? Who was stopping those monsters from killing innocent people? It was then that she heard voices getting closer to her. She could make out a man and what sounded like a young girl.

"So she still hasn't woke up? Do you know why? Is her condition worse than what you thought?"

"I'm sorry, Miss Zara that's all I know at this point. As far as her condition the worse of it is malnutrition. Which we were expecting when you told as she was found in a control room. After they bleed the magicians trapped inside dry. I simply think that she isn't ready to wake up."

There was a moment of silence. She figured that the girl was simply trying to take in the new information about her. At least she thought they were talking about her. She didn't know if any of the others had been pulled out the control rooms.

Oh how wrong she was. She had completely forgotten about the other man she had heard talking. As Zara asked about her condition, he had been watching her. It was faint but he noticed that her breathing had quicken when they had walked in the room. But after Zara and the healer started to talk it seemed to even out. It was then that Solomon realized that she was awake and had been for quite some time.

So he reached out like any sane person would and calmly lifted the bed that she was _sleeping_ on, and laughed when she rolled across the floor and came to a stop at the girl's feet screeching the whole way.

When Sheba finally came to a stop it was at the feet of the girl that had been talking with the healer. That wouldn't have been a problem if the hand reaching down to help her to her feet hadn't been topped with claws. No it would have been much easier for the poor girl to process if the one helping her hadn't been one of the monsters she had been taught to fear and hate for as long as she could remember.

* * *

 **This took a lot longer than I wanted it too. I knew what I wanted to do with it but every time I wrote Something for it I didn't like. When my Beta wanted to do another AU about SaS and GL I realized I really needed to get working on this or you guys wouldn't even know the Older Version of Zara that appears in Sauve or Not By Jaxond. its really good if you guys want to pop over but it will give a bit of a spoiler to GL. anyway hope you guys enjoy.**


	12. A true monster

Zara knew just what was going through her head when she saw the terror and hatred in her eyes. This girl was going to be just like all the others, she wouldn't be able to look past her outer shell to see the person underneath.

"You're a monster! One of those vile tricksters that spend their days making those around them miserable. What in god's name are you doing here without a slave collar? Who's your master? He has to know that you've taken off your collar!"

So she was going to be one of those that turned their fear into _righteous_ anger. To treat her like a slave to save their pride, to act like they were never feared her kind in the first place.

With that Zara withdraw her offered hand, she could forgive many for calling her a monster or not being able to look past appearance that was a common thing among new recruits, but to treat her as a slave was something that she refused to turn the other cheek to. She had lost too much break the shackles that once bound her and her people for that. As she turned to leave she called over her shoulder to her.

"She's all yours, brother mine. Or should I call you master?"

Not that she stuck around to hear his reply or to see the fireworks that followed. She continued to make her way back to the main courtyard to work off some of the fire that boiled her blood. She couldn't believe that someone would dare treat her or even say that she was a slave. She knew that in the eyes of the Church and its followers that she still belonged to Solomon. But to have someone suggest that she have a collar and to imply that Solomon was less of a person for not knowing what she was doing. Not that he had ever treated like a slave or acted like her master, even when he had legally owned her.

She snorted at the thought that someone could own another. It didn't matter what race they were, they all were children of their great god and none were above another. No one race was more important or more blessed than another. After she had managed to work off some steam she began to plan. Now it had been awhile since she had pulled any pranks but Sheba could be the first stop in her comeback tour of sorts.

"Hey Z, it's time to eat, so quit trying to kill the poor sap you conned into training with you."

She looked up when she heard Ugo calling. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't noticed the passage of time.

Zara smiled as she walked into the great hall that served as both the barracks and the banquet hall during meal times. She would never get tired of seeing just how big her family had become. Granted she didn't know all of them as much as she would have liked, but they were her family nonetheless and she loved each and everyone.

She continued to make her way to the table she usually shared with Solomon and the rest, greeting those could and welcoming back those who had been gone. When she was almost there she came to a complete stop when she saw that _it_ was there. That vile little thing dared to intrude on her time with her closest family and friends. The time that she got to see that each and everyone of them was safe and unhurt.

It was then that Arba noticed that Zara was hovering just past their table.

"Z, come join us for dinner. I made sure to save you a spot by Solomon and me. We would like to introduce you to Sheba."

"Don't worry about that. We've met and I don't plan on furthering our relationship past distant acquaintances. She is a little brat that doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut."

Her answer shocked Arba a bit with its rather hostile tone, but she figured that Zara had a good reason to think that way.

Zara snickered when she saw Sheba jump out of the corner of her eye when Wahid called for food.

"FOOD, I want food! Bring me food"

Wahid then proceed to bang his hands on the table until someone place a meal in front of him. Only for him to begin to inhale it with his usual gusto. Complaining about how hungry he's been and that they should have ate sooner.

"I got so hungry that I was going to burn those dogs from the Othrodox to a crisp and eat them."

Zara watched as another shiver ran down Sheba's spine when she heard Wahid and watched as he tour chucks of meat of the leg he was holding. Laughing as he talked of the battle that cost many Othrodox dogs their lives.

"Your hunger is not cool. If you did that, the beautiful balance of your muscles would not be maintained."

Setta loved them all but he could be more of a mother hen than Arba on her worse day. He was all about having us maintain our _beautiful forms_ as he put it. Zara picked at the food put in front of her as she watched her family eat. She also made sure to keep the interloper in her sights at all times. Watched as Ithnan started to drink himself into a stupor and being to pick on her Ugo.

"Ugo,"he practically sang,"why won't you fight on your own every single day? You always hide behind me, Solomon, or Zara."

He began to squeeze his cheeks almost making Ugo look like a fish. Ugo was looking a little pained but was having funny so Zara decided not to interfere.

"Well, you know… I'm an expert at exploiting situations..besides, your lighting magic is really cool, you know!"

Ithnan's face darkens the more Ugo talks, knowing that he's only trying to get out of trouble. Plus about the only person who can flatter him and turn him into a blushing mess is Setta. Ithnan's whole world seemed to revolve around Setta, the rest of the gang were like passing comets that occasionally came close.

"Don't try to flatter me!"

After that Zara lost track of the different conversions as they all began to talk at the same time. She tried to listen in case one of them asked her a question or tried to pull her into a conversion but her heart really wasn't in it today. No, today she was too busy watching the new addition to their group as, the others hoped she would be, but Zara really hoped she'd fall off the side of the base without her staff.

As she continued to watch her and judge her threat level, she began to notice how lost and confused the poor girl looked. Truth be told, she looked a little overwhelmed. As much pleasure that knowledge gave her she knew that leaving her like that was wrong. So Zara decide to give the girl one more chance.

"So Sheba, right?"

She still seemed to be lost in thought as she tried and failed to understand what all the merriment and laughter that was going on around was about.

So Zara slowly reached out to touch her shoulder to get her attention. She had grabbed her a plate of different meats and fruits to give her at this point. She remembered that the healer had said that she was malnourished so getting her to eat was the first step to helping her on the road of recovery.

When Zara's hand touched her she jumped.

"Forgive me, I didn't mean to frighten you, but I remember the healer saying that you were malnourished so I brought you a selection of food. I wasn't sure what you liked."

Zara smiled softly at Sheba, knowing that she was scared and in a new place so she really shouldn't hold what she had said against her.

"My name is Zara, and the boy that umm... helped you out of bed this morning is my older brother, and his also our leader. I'm a free Niran like all the races you will see and work with here."

Solomon had turned toward Sheba and Zara when he heard Zara trying to talk to her. He was still reading the book that Ugo had found for him about the Manicore tribe.

Sheba looked at Zara with cold, dead eyes. Like she wasn't really seeing here just going through the motions.

"I want to go back to the tower."

One sentence was enough to stop all the different conversions going on around them. Showing that they had all been listen to their conversion to began with. Solomon must have told them about what Sheba had said in the healer's quarters.

"Why?"

That was all she asked. Because honestly she couldn't understand why she would want to return. All the others were happy to be free from the towers. They never wanted to go back, granted they weren't sure about fighting against the Church that once sheltered them, but they all could agree on the fact that the towers were as close to hell as a being could get on this world.

"I have to accomplish the holy task that Ilah gave me"

Arba shook her head at the poor confused girl. She truly believed that living in that tower was a good thing. Didn't she know that staying in there would slowly but surely kill her.

"But Sheba, if you continue to let them use your magic against your will in that tower, you will die, don't you know that?"

"You fool, it wasn't against my will. I was risking my life to control the Impure. They told me that good and evil are both present in this world because of the Impure kings and the aggressions by the hands of the Daeif.

Solomon looked her up and down with a condescending look. He found the ones that were still like that even after being saved to be the most difficult.

"To Control the Imprue huh, so your great role consisted in discharging magic from the safety of that tower, that made everyone that wasn't human turn into mindless drones, right little miss?"

Zara snickered as her brother basically told Sheba that her and the people like her were nothing more than cowards that hide behind the safety of their tower walls to steal the minds of those weaker than them.

"Exactly. They are the pus of the world," as she talked she became more and more hysterical, her eyes gain a mad gleam to them,"In the past the species terrorized and greedily devoured us, the sacred magicians, messengers of our gracious father, Ill Ilah. That is written in the "Holy Scripture's" second chapter from paragraph 4 to paragraph 8."

Zara knew those so called _Holy_ Scripture's well, after _he_ had shoved them down her throat enough when she was a child. It was how he justified the beatings and torture she had to endure by her father's hands. So for once she just held her tongue. It wouldn't help her to understand the girl better to go off on her, nor would it help to alienate her for the group.

Then Falan started to laugh, "She snapped, aru."

Falan's laughter seemed to snapped the others out of the stupor that Sheba's little speech put them in.

"Stop saying those things. They just taught that it's an honor to die for your mission, and to wait for fate's call. They changed the same thing on my brother and I. I refused to let him die alone and was overjoyed when Solomon came to save us."

Setta nodded as Ithnan spoke. It was true they never really wanted to give their lives but that had been what they were taught. So when Solomon and company came to save them, they realized that there life meant more to them than throw it away. Wahid had to throw in his two cents as well.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but our objective is to release all those species from the magician's rule."

Sheba's eyes seemed to grow big enough to take up her whole face at that. To her the thought that any person would dare go against the Church was a foreign one.

"Impure! Impure! Impure! You shall receive divine punishment. Father, bestow punishment on this Daeif."

When Sheba began yelling about punishment and calling them impure there was a few different reactions. Wahid, of course found this down right funny, if their god was going to punish anyone it would be the Church for misusing their divine gifts in such a way. Solomon was just bored, frankly he was more than done with her at this point. Arba was shocked she couldn't see how Sheba still believe that giving her life was what their Father would want for her. The who couldn't hold on to the string of their patience was Zara.

She had done fairly well. She had let herself be called a monster. She sat and listen well this girl basically said that her, her mother and her people were less than dirt. She looked up with fire burning in her eyes. She took a step toward her so that she was right in her face, and made sure to smile in a way that showed her fangs. Then as she watched Sheba's face lost it's all knowing and prideful look. Oh how she enjoyed the fear that slowly took it's place as Zara trailed her claws down her face. She didn't care if she was proving her point. She wanted her to know that at any moment she could easily snuff out the life that she was willing to throw away in the first place.

"So we're the Impure ones, huh. Personally, I think those that hide behind tower walls to steal the will and power of those _beneath_ them are the impure ones. After all, I've never taken a life that wasn't trying to steal mine or my loved ones'. I've never enslaved whole races to do my dirty work for me, or marked those as slaves to be brought and sold like they were less than dirt. My brothers have never forced an unwilling woman to their beds then took and killed the child she was forced to have. They've never beaten a child so badly that they chose the confines of their owns minds over the arms of their loving family."

She watched as the fear and horror continued to grow on Sheba's face as her claws continued to caress her face and the words broke through.

"Now, little girl do you know who has done all those things, hmm? Your Church, the ones that you're so willing to give your life for. The man you call David, the head of your Church is more of a monster than any man, woman or child here. You go ahead and return to what's left of your tower, and I hope that you rot there, you Orthodox dog."

With that, Zara turned towards her family, with a smile at their dumbfounded looks. After all, no matter how bad the person was or treated her, she always tried to befriend them and make them feel welcome. But Sheba hadn't even been awake for a day and Zara was ready to send her back to the Church missing important parts of her body.

The only one aside from her brother who understood why was Arba. This wasn't about Zara, no she could live with every person here hating her and it wouldn't phase her in the least. No, Sheba had dared to insult the few people that Zara had let close to her. She had treated each and everyone of them like they were less than human. And to Zara that was an insult that she couldn't let pass, so she showed her who the true monster was, with both words and actions.

* * *

 **I hope you guys like this. Yes, Sheba has appeared at long last... but I don't think that her and Zara are going to be the best of friends right away. enjoy and please review if you like**


	13. Prank gone wrong

And so she waited. It wouldn't be long now, hopefully she would be able to hear her screams. She could almost picture her face, the fear that would appear when her whole world was turned upside down. Then the rage and disgust that would replace it when the solution was triggered to drop and soak her.

But as much as she wanted to stay and watch it all unfold, she had things that needed doing. She knew that most would guess that she had set her up, it would look a lot better for her if she was far away from scene. She wasn't one to hide what she did and she did plan to take credit for her work, but she wanted to enjoy knowing that the brat was going to get what was coming to her before she was dragged to her brother.

* * *

It was much later that Zara heard the screams of outrage from her victim. An almost evil grin slowly worked it's way across her face as her dodged her teacher's claws.

Adar knew that grin. It was one he had seen on both Zara and her mother's face over the years. It was the smile that meant that some poor fool had fallen into a perfectly laid trap.

He had heard how the new recruit had reacted upon meeting his little lady. So he was willing to bet that the one to fall was none other than miss Sheba. He also understood that Zara's pranks weren't going to earn her Sheba's respect or show the girl that his people were harmless. Well, mostly harmless.

If Zara was allowed to keep this up, it wouldn't be long before the girl left and they were in the middle of nowhere at the moment. Her leaving now would spell death for the poor thing. He also knew that if the girl did die because she ran from Zara and her pranks that his lady would never forgive herself.

"So, I take it you've been busy?"

Zara looked up when her mentor spoke. His deadly claws had stopped coming at her as well, allowing her to stand and talk with him. She knew what he was referring to, that didn't mean she wanted to talk about it. She knew that once they got her down and clean they'd be coming for her. It wasn't a conversation she wanted to have twice. She knew that she was being immature and it wasn't like her. Most people who fell victim to her pranks really deserved them, it was true that Sheba was a rude little brat, but she didn't deserve what she was getting. Not that it going to stop her. Everyone was always telling her that she needed to act her age, not the mini adult this war had changed her into. So she was going to act her age, and people her age played pranks and made other kids lives unbearable.

"So what if I have? She deserves it and more for the things that she said about the other races and Solomon and the guys. I'm so tired of just laughing it off and turning the other cheek. I know I have done just that many times before, but this time I just…"

Zara turned her head looking down. Knowing that she wasn't expressing her feelings well, but how could she when she herself didn't really know what she was feeling.

Adar smiled down at her, "Can't? It's not unheard of little one. Every person has a breaking point and you've done well to keep yourself from yours. That being said, it doesn't mean that it's okay to make this one girl's life hell for something that she said when she was uninformed. Give her time, she may just become someone you can't be without. A powerful ally that we may need. If you keep this up we could lose her before she gets the chance to change."

Adar changed back to his more human form to pull his little lady into his arms. He knew what she was going through wasn't easy. She was a child but they expected great things from her one moment, but wished her to be the child she was next. Then lost their patience when she was, it was vicious cycle at times. The poor girl never knew what direction to go and that made walking her destined path so much harder for her.

As he stroked her ears he told, "Just try to give her a chance. I'm not saying to stop pranking her altogether but go a little easier on her."

"ZARA!"

Her head snapped up at her brother's shout. She knew that she was going to be in trouble if Solomon of all people was yelling for her. Her ears began to droop, until the touched her head and her tail was tucked between her legs as she slowly made her way to her brother. She hated to disappoint him, he was her hero.

"There you are. Sheba's gone and we need to find her."

Zara's eyes widen, she began to panic, " Gone?! What do you mean gone? We're in the middle of nowhere. If we don't find her soon she could die."

"I know, that's way I called for you. You should be able to track her scent. It shouldn't be hard after you did drop the waste from the toilets on her. I'm pretty sure she's going to smell fairly foul. Hopefully that will be enough to keep any predators away from her until we get there."

Zara at least had the good grace to look a little ashamed. She may have went a little too far this time. So she simply shook her head yes and left with her brother to find their smelly friend.

She lost her scent a mile or so away from camp when they pasted a small stream.

"She most like washed off the waste here and maybe followed the water. I can't be sure which way or even if she crossed. I can try and pick up her scent but there's no telling if I can or how long it would take me too."

Solomon looked from his sister to the land around them. He knew that she was going to be a great tracker someday, but she wasn't there yet. So he trusted her judgement, now he just had to come up with a back up plan.

"We're going to have to split up. We can cover more ground that way." He looked back at her knowing that she would want to argue. She never liked it when the split up in an unfamiliar area, she always said that it was to dangerous.

"Z, please don't, I know what you're going to say and why but we don't have time for this now. The sun is going to set before long and we both know how cold it can get out here. She's defenseless and soon she's going to be cold and wet. Do you want her to spend more time in the healer's quarters?"

She looked ashamed again. This was her fault. If she hadn't played that stupid prank then she may not have left. And even if she had she wouldn't have had to wash off filth and possible give herself hypothermia.

"No, you're right, if we're going to have any hope of finding her we need to cover more ground. Just promise me if you run into any trouble that you'll signal me. I'll do the same and, if we don't find her by sundown, we should return to the base."

His sister never ceased to amuse him, he was the most powerful magician in their army and she still felt like she needed to protect him.

"If it will get you to move then yes I'll signal if I need help."

As she watched as her brother fly off in the other direction, she waited until she couldn't see him any more before she herself move on.

* * *

She felt that she had been searching for hours and she still hadn't found a trace. At times like this, she wished that she had her mother's nose. Granted, her sense of smell was far greater than a human but it was nothing compared to a full-blooded Niran.

Just as her frustration was about to get the best of her, she felt something close to a tickle but in her head, she knew that it was Solomon trying to talk to her. She hated it when he used his magic to talk to her in her head, it just felt so wrong and creepy knowing that he had been in her head.

After he informed her that he had found and saved Sheba, he told her to return to base and they would talk about what had happened so that it didn't happen again.

* * *

 **Sorry it took so long. Hope you guys like this one. Please enjoy and reveiw.**


	14. Doubts

Her punishment for the Sheba incident was to play babysitter, funny when you thought about the fact that the baby she was sitting was older than her. But Solomon didn't trust her enough to be left on her own and he wanted to explore and learn more about the manticores. She didn't blame him, she did too.

She watched as Sheba and Ugo talked about the village. She guessed to someone who thought that all the different species were nothing more than dumb murderous beasts, that finding out that they had families and a culture all their own would be hard to take in.

Zara watched the different emotions that ran across her face, confusion to disbelief and even wonder a time or two. Sheba really wasn't all bad, a little uninformed true, but not really bad. She thought back to her brother's lecture the day before.

He had told her that Sheba knew no other way of life but that of the church. To her, those who were different were evil and bent on murdering her and her family. That was what she was taught and the way Zara had been acting wasn't helping in proving the church and their vile teachings wrong, she had been proving them right to a lesser degree.

Ugo's voiced slowly brought her back to the present, "That's because of your magic, right?"

Zara turned to look back at them having moved past them when she had been lost to her own thoughts. She almost pity Sheba when she seen the look or horrific confusion on her face at Ugo's words, but she really needed to know and understand just what she had been doing in that tower of her's. It wasn't a nice pretty thought or for the good of the world. They had been killing and enslaving innocent creatures.

"Ah, sorry." was all Ugo could think to say when he saw just what he had cause with his thoughtless words. He was good at that, speaking before thinking, but that was one of the things she loved about him. He didn't pull punches he spoke what he thought when he thought, most time uncaring for the effect that they would have.

"No, you have no reason to apologize. She needs to understand just what she was stealing from these people. You took their minds and made them kill for sport. Do you just how many lives were lost by your hands or how many families destroyed?"

She stopped when she noticed her brother coming up behind Sheba with a young manticore.

Just as she was about to greet her brother, Sheba whipped around when she sensed something behind her.

She turned fully and pointed her staff yelling, "Don't touch me, monster!"

Zara was beginning to wonder if that was the only word she knew to describe other races. The child had a flower in his paws, he was in no way threatening, so calling him a monster was a little much in her eyes. Of coarse, Zara had no knowledge of their little adventure the day before or how her brother had to save her from him. All he told her was that when he found her she had been in trouble and had needed his help.

Zara watched her brother smile as he told Sheba, "He's saying that he's sorry for yesterday. Don't worry, he's regained his sanity." with that he ran off to discover something else about the manticores.

It was sweet watching her brother be a kid again. Very rarely did they get to act their age, too many lives depended on them being wise and in control at all times for them to really let loose. So seeing Solomon running this way and that way to learn something new was fun.

Zara turned back to watching her charge, it was kinda funny to see her so out of her depth. The flower that the little manticore had been carrying had obviously been for Sheba, she wasn't really sure how to react to it so they had been sitting in an awkward silence after Solomon had left.

Zara was being to grow bored. She had never been very skilled at sitting quietly, she preferred to be moving or planning. Just sitting in silence wasn't really her thing.

She watched as the manticore began to point from the flower to Sheba's head. Neither she or Sheba understood what they he was saying. So he was trying to get his point across with gestures. When that didn't seem to work he grabbed a picture book from his toys to try and show them what he meant.

Zara heard Sheba mumble something about the pictures. She then watched as she began to scribble in the dirt with her staff. By this point her brother had again returned to their side. Wanting to know what they were doing and if it was something he could join in.

Watched as her brother laughed with her and smiled. Something in her chest began to tight-in at the sight. The smile he was giving her was the one he normally reserved for Zara alone. She feared that she may lose him. Solomon was nice and friendly with everyone, but this was different somehow. As she watched she noticed how Sheba's demeter changed as she played with the little manticore. She turned to leave. She couldn't watch anymore, she didn't care if her brother got mad at her for leaving.

So she ran, before long she had found her way to Arba. She tended to be the one that Zara ran to when things got to be to much for her. She could tell Arba things that she would never even dream of telling her brother or Ugo. She knew that all her secrets and fear were safe with her. She had become like a mother to her after she lost her own.

Before Arba knew what was happening, she was tackled by Zara. It was rare for Zara to tackle her these days. A few years ago it had been fairly common, but as time went on she felt that she needed to grow up and so she stopped. The only one who could get her to act childish nowadays was Solomon.

"What's wrong, Z?" by this point Zara had curled up in her lap, much like the fox her people were likened too. It would seem cute to most but to Arba it was a little frightening. Zara didn't like to show any hint of vulnerability, to her it was a weakness that could get her and her family killed, and that was unacceptable.

Arba continued to stroke Zara's hair, trying to calm her enough to talk. Whatever it was must be bad if she was letting her play with her hair and touch her ears. Normally that privilege belonged to Ugo alone, she didn't even let Solomon do it much anymore.

Moments like this made it apparent just how much they had forced her to grow.

"Come now, little one, I'm not going to know what to do to help if you don't tell me."

She watched the play of emotions cross Zara's face. It wouldn't take a genius to know that whatever this was it was hard for little Z to deal with. It must be something that she has never had to worry about before, and that alone was enough to peak Arba's interest.

"He's going to leave me. She's like him; why would he stay with me if he has a normal being so similar to him around. Even Ugo likes her, I mean she's not all that bad now that she understands just what her power had done. Now that she can see what the church destories with their towers, she's not likely to return to them. I mean she's practically perfect now or will be!"

It took Arba to the Ugo part to understand who and what Zara was talking about. When she did it took all she had to keep from laughing. She truly had no idea how she could possibly believe that any one person could take her place. Zara was their fire, she was the light that helped guide them, the warmth that kept their hearts from freezing over from the horrors that they had been forced to see and at times do. If it wasn't for her they may have never started down this road.

"Arba! Don't laugh at me! I'm serious about this, that girl is going to replace me."

Her eyes became a waterfall of tears and her face a mess for tears and snot. Which of course made Abra laugh even harder. She didn't care what anyone said you couldn't cry, really cry, and look beautiful it was a cruel myth.

"Zara, Sheba's not going to take your place. For one you're the only one like you, two and most important you're are family. You're Solomon's sister, my baby girl, and Ugo's girl. Not that he knows that just yet but he'll get it someday."

Zara laughed through her tears. It was a long running joke about her and Ugo. Everyone but him seemed to know that she had a crush on him, and most thought that they would be perfect together. Those that didn't soon learned to keep that thought to themselves after Solomon paid them a visit. He became their biggest shipper when he got over the fact that his little sister was growing up. At first he couldn't even stand when they were in the same room together, but he came around when Arba told him about golden fox-eared babies.

That was enough to break her out of her pity party. Her head knew that Solomon would never leave her. She knew that he would always be there to show her the way. But a small place in her heart feared that someday he would turn his back on her and all that they had worked for and leave her and their people. It was a hard feeling to shake at times, some small part of her would always feel that way.

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 **This chapter has been done for awhile had to wait for my Beta to read it, sorry about that guys. Anyways hope you enjoy. On a side note I'm going to be introducing to "new" characters in the next chapter. New if you haven't read Survivor and Seeker by my beta reader... my story is a prequel of hers, just forces on a different character.**


	15. And A friendship blooms

"I made a friend! They're called Momo!"

Zara smiled when she saw just how broken up Sheba was, this time there was no malice behind it. She was truly happy to see that she cared, it showed that she was changing, becoming more than what the Church had wanted her to be. She didn't know if the true horror of Sheba's action had hit her just yet, but, even if they hadn't, she could see improvement and that was enough for Zara's heart to start to thaw.

"Ah, so they become close friends. By the way according to what the manticore's leader told me, the continent broke off recently. It was to keep us here, like I thought."

Zara snorted, she wasn't the least be surprised that her brother had began to understand their language so soon.

"It doesn't surprise me that you're starting to understand them. From what I've been able to gather, their language is similar to the Niran, and we both know that you can understand them faultlessly. Even if you like to pretend that you can't."

Solomon turned toward Zara, rubbing his head and looking a bit sheepish. He really didn't want it to get out that he could understand the other races so easily.

"Kind of. Well, their language is similar to the Niran's. It's not exactly the same, which causes some confusion."

Language aside, she knew what this meant. They were trying to keep them here. The reason was unknown but it couldn't be good. This would mean that they would have to hand over "that" without the other races present to help teach the Manticores. That could be dangerous, and god only knew what trouble they could get up to. But if they stayed and waited, the Church would more than likely send in troops to destroy them before they left. It was a tough choice to make, leave and keep the Church from enslaving them again, but risk that the staff, or stay and show them how to use the staff and risk their freedom. But, then again, some choices are made for you.

Zara knew something was wrong the moment she step out of the Manticores' tunnels. The air was too still, almost like the world was holding its breath waiting to see just what was going to happen next.

With that thought in mind, she made her way to the army's home base and where the majority of their forces had waited. It was time to move out as per her brother's order, one she didn't agree with, but, that was becoming more common these days. She knew that it was just part of growing up. After all, Solomon was the closest thing to a father figure she had.

Sheba had followed Zara out, hoping to gain the fox girl's trust after everything she had done this past week, she knew that it wasn't going to be easy.

"I couldn't bring myself to tell them."

Zara looked over at the dejected girl, when she heard her whisper. She knew that it hadn't been easy for her to say goodbye to her new friend, but that came with the territory.

"Tell them what exactly?"

She couldn't even look Zara in the eyes as she confessed. How could she after calling her a monster over and over? After meeting Momo and seeing his people and the way the resistance treated them and Zara she saw who the real monsters were.

"That it was my magic's fault that Momo's father died. I was really scared that they would hate me if I told them the truth."

It was on the tip of her tongue to rip into her. Some part of her really wanted to tell her just how much she deserved their hate, but the bigger part that understood, had felt that hate would never do that to another when they were trying to change. The girl at her side wasn't the little brat that called her a monster and freak, who turned away when she tried to help. No this girl was one who has seen and understood just what her actions had destroyed. This girl didn't deserve her hatred but her compassion and…..trust.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, that's right, but even though I didn't tell Momo the truth, I still ended up hating myself. Momo, I can just imagine how sad it was for them."

"After watching you come to terms with what your choices and magic caused. I think that I like you now, and you just may have the opportunity to apologize to them."

"What do you mean…?" her eyes that were just beginning to feel with hope and happiness soon changed to horror and despair.

Zara and Sheba now had a perfect view of the advancing Manticore army, not that they were a willing army. They could see that they had at some point fallen under the Church's control again, and Zara was willing to bet her daggers that the magic signal was coming from the ships above them.

Those ship were most likely why the Church's army had destroyed part of the land. Hoping to force them to stop, giving their ships time to make it there. Solomon stopping and playing with the manticore had done just that.

She turned to inform her brother and the others of the impending battle only to find them standing behind her.

They would never admit that they were worried that the girls would fight on their way back home and had been following them from the start. To do that would be like telling Zara that they couldn't trust her, and that wasn't it exactly. It was more that they were worried that Sheba would open her mouth and spew out more filth about the other races without thinking, much like Ugo did when he talked about other people.

"Why are you looking at us like it's our fault? This is the same thing that you were doing until now, this is the scene you have seen many times from your tower, right?"

"You're wrong! This isn't what I was doing!"

Zara listened as Sheba's voice cracked as she cried out, almost like she was trying to convince more than just them. Zara almost pitied her as her last defensive wall around her heart crumpled away and the guilt consumed it, but Zara knew that she needed to hear what her brother had to say and see what she knew was coming after.

"You did the exact same thing, right? For one, or two years, while feeling good inside that room. While sneering at them, you prospered, they came to disgust you and you continue to recklessly break their minds, right!?"

"Stop! You're the real villains here! You were the ones who saved the worst person in the world. The one who did the one who did things that no one could ever forgive! The great sinner who should have died, you saved me! Why didn't you kill me? I should have died in that room! And yet why did you save me?" her voice had started strong but by the end of her little speak it started to quiver and shake before it was barely above a whisper.

That thought was what made them all family. At some point all the divine staff wielders had been in that room, had been the very thing that caused such pain to the races they were trying to save. They understood her pain and her guilt. they had felt the same when they were freed.

Solomon, Ugo and Arba had helped them build those towers, had helped enslave those races. Had forced Zara to enslave and kill others like her because of her own enslavement. They knew more guilt than many, but they had long since known what they wanted to do. They had planned to rebell against the church, but that didn't stop the pain or the shame that would surface whenever they had to commit the crimes that David had forced them to do.

It was why Zara hated being called a monster. It brought the darkest parts of her out to play. The part of her that was the monster that the Church believed her to be. The monster that fought alongside her family, one that the church had learned to fear a very long time ago.

Zara watched as her family moved past Sheba as one. She knew the looks on their faces without having to see them, determination to right the wrongs they had committed.

"Because we did not have the right to die in that room."

Sheba looked up when she felt a hand on her arm. Her eyes wide as she listened to what Ugo had said.

"What?" was all she was able to choke out around her tears.

"To die just like that would have been half-hearted."

"We still have,.."

"Things left to as long as we live."

Wahid had spoken first remembering his time in that room and what had followed after, then was Ithan and Setta lost in the memory of shared pain and fear, finishing each other's sentences.

"It can't be…"

Zara turned back toward Sheba when she heard her speak. She knew that at least one of them had to remain on the base in case some of the enemy managed to get past her brother.

"Yes, we are all people who lent their powers to those towers and survived. We're all great sinners!"

Zara watched as Sheba tried to process everything she had just learned. In that moment, she realized why they fought as long and hard as they did. It wasn't just for the freedom of all the races, not just to end the cycle of death and enslavement that David had started. It was absolve themselves of some of the guilt that ate away at them when they thought about how they were once a part of it.

All Zara could do was look on with pride when she thought of how far they had come. Now the Church feared them.

She watched as the ships approached, looking for any weak points or hidden weapons. Putting her hand out she summoned a spear of flames that died downed and revealed her Divine staff. The golden shaft had crimson looking flames dancing up to the golden orb at its tip, when Zara channeled power through it made the flames come to life and engulf the tip in golden fire. Making it look like her staff was a living weapon.

"You have a Divine Staff? But how?"

Zara turned to look at Sheba after she had her question and gave sarcastic smile.

"Elder David has a twisted sense of humor and thought it would be amusing to have an enslaved race build his towers. I was incharge of the Niran in place of my mother, so I was given a Divine Staff to enforce his will upon them."

She turned back to the fight breaking out in front of her and tightened her grip on her staff, closed her eyes and breathed deeply, feeling the beat and flow of the magic raging around her. Her mother had told her long ago that battle, any battle, was like a dance, one side lead and the other followed. Once she had the flow of the magic down, she opened her eyes and jumped in.

Zara watched as they used their magic to destroy the ships, but worried that the explosive displays of power could possible harm the base or the enslaved manticores below.

"Judar Alnnar"

A wall of fire began to spread out behind Zara, keep the enemy away from the base and helpless race below. Any pieces of the enemy ship that weren't destroy in the fight would become fuel for her flames.

Any ship foolish enough to think that they had a chance against the small girl, who chose to be on defense rather than offense like the rest, soon learned that it was a very poor thought.

"Alrramah Alnnaria"

Spears of fire began to shoot out of the wall that was beginning to close in around the ship to catch any ships that had strayed to far from the pack.

She could almost hear their panicked screams from within. She knew how they looked, Wahid smiling like a maniac, Setta's eyes almost as cold as his ice. Arba used her magic to strengthen her arms to the point where she could easily slice through ships like warm butter, and finally Ugo and Solomon using high leveled magic like it was child's play.

Zara's blood turned to ice when she heard a scream from the behind her. She turned toward in what felt like hours only to see Sheba's borg shatter like glass as the magician's magic pierced through it. She continued to watch in mute horror as another wave began to fall after the first. She could tell from Sheba's face that she wouldn't be able to get her borg back up in time to stop the rain of death that was about to fall.

While Zara was a powerful opponent, she wasn't fast enough to make it back to them and, even if she did her own borg, had no hope of stopping what Sheba's couldn't. She knew her own weaknesses and saw no point in trying to them.

She mentality started to calculate the amount of power it would take to try and send enough fire, fast enough to melt the shards as they flew. Even as she began the cast her spell she knew that she would be too late. She simply wasn't as fast as her brother or Ugo, but she had to try. Even if she didn't make it in time, she could change her target and kill the murderers.

She could only watch as the very air warped in front of her eyes as her brother seemed to bend the very fabric of space itself to stop the magicians' attack. No, he didn't really stop it, he sent it back at them, similar to the way she could send fire back at her attackers. Close but not just like it, Solomon had actually bent space and time to amplify and reverse the spell. She had heard about what Ugo and Solomon had been working on but to see it, was amazing.

Time seemed to slow for Zara as Solomon slowly disappeared in the light of the enemy's combined attack. She stopped breathing when he was completely engulfed in their light.

She couldn't do it again. She couldn't lose another member of her family, he was all she had left. She wouldn't come back from the madness, that had killed a whole legion of her father's army.

"Calm down, Z. Look, he's fine." she heard Ugo whispering in her ear.

She looked back up at where her brother had been moments ago to see his outline. It was dark against the flashes of light from their enemy's attacks.

Seeing him fighting was enough to calm her down. She knew that he was going to be okay now. And that was enough for her to get back to business. There were people to save and enemies to kill, and how she was going to enjoy it this time. They made her think that her brother was dead.

"Now, I know that you want to jump in and fight them to the last, but you need to go down and help Sheba. She could be hurt worse than she appears. You're better when you're protecting others. You know this Z, it part of what makes you, you."

She turned toward Sheba and really looked at her and started to notice the cuts and bruises that were starting to form. As much as it pained her to admit it, but Ugo was right. Sheba needed her now, not Solomon. He was strong enough to take care of himself, no matter what her instincts were telling her.

After Solomon had repelled the attack that was aimed at the Manticore and their base, he called for an all out attack on the flagship to end this before any lives were lost in the fighting.

Better to end it quickly and put those poor bastards brainwashed by the church out of their misery.

Sheba used her staff to climb to her feet. Her eyes held a fire that hadn't been there before. She knew what she wanted to do now.

Watching them risk their lives had inspired her to do the same. She was determined to fix the wrongs that she had committed. She would make up for the lives that she had stole in that tower and for the pain she had inflicted upon Zara and Solomon with her cruel and careless words. Words that had been spoken in haste.

"I'll go too."

Zara looked at Sheba and laughed "And just what do you plan on doing up there? You can barely stand, let alone use any magic. The best you would be able to do is bleed on them. And I don't see how that could possible help my brother and our friends?"

Zara wasn't trying to be cruel, she was simply stating a fact. As of that moment Sheba wouldn't be much help. The best she could do was cheer them on. But Zara could see the determination that was burning in her eyes. So, if she wanted to play cheerleader, Zara would help this once.

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 **Hi everyone, sorry that it took so long for this chapter. I hope you like it. Please review if you have time. Also sorry about the fight scene I'm not very good at writing those, I'm working on that. Anyways enjoy :)**


	16. The Last Dioscuri

When Sheba had found out just who Zara and Solomon were related too, she had been shocked. She quickly became very respectful to both Zara and Solomon. It had been funny at first, but now it just getting on Zara's nerves.

She couldn't stand all the bowing and instant okays. She liked to fight and argue with Sheba. It was something that she had looked forward too. After all she started to see her with respect and not just another church member. But now all Sheba could see when she looked at them was their father.

Zara wished she could go back and shut that mage up before he open his big mouth in front of her. Granted she knew that Sheba would have found out before long. It wasn't like Solomon or herself tried to keep it a secret., but now all she ever heard about was David this or David that and how sorry Sheba was that she dared to disrespect the children of Elder David.

Thank god for Abra and Ugo would inform Sheba that David had forced Zara to be a Slave and the only way for Solomon to keep her safe back then was to become her master. That Solomon and Zara hated their father and he was the cause of Zara's mother's death. They didn't care that they were David's children and that at some point they would have to fight and most likely kill their father.

By that point Sheba seemed to get the idea that bring up David and just who they were in terms of the church wasn't a good idea.

Sheba was ecstatic to learn more about her new family's past. Before long she began to make a name and place for herself among them. She quickly moved up the ranks of their army to have a place beside her new friends. Granted she knew as a Divine Staff holder she had a place with them from the start but after all she had done she felt that she needed to earn it.

It was that thought that caused her to lose her innocence and learn the true horror the war that they fought.

Village after village filled with nothing but carnage, death everywhere they look. Dioscuri bodies lined the streets and alleys, in homes and buildings. Young, old, it didn't matter the magicians seemed to have gone on a killing spree. Genocide was their aim this time. There would be no enslavement, the Dioscuri's minds were too strong for the towers and Zara was sure they had _learned_ from the mistakes of the past.

This was the first mission that Solomon had sent Zara and Sheba on together, Ugo was there to help them with and to keep them safe and on point. Over past few months Zara and Sheba had become very close almost inseparable. Spending more time with a person close to her own age brought out the childlike side of Zara that she tried to bury under her cold and mature mask. She had been playing more prank and finally acting her age for a change it was a beautiful sight for her brother to see.

Just as the three we talking about making camp Zara picked up the scent of smoke. At first she just thought it was the approaching base, but she noticed the smell of burning flesh. The faintest noises on the breeze.

Whatever it was to far for her to hear properly. But it had a high pitch to making her think if cries or screams.

"I know you two are tired, but I can smell burning flesh, and I think I'm hearing screams. But we're to far to tell from here."

Sheba and Ugo looked up at Zara after she spoke. If this was true, they were in for a fight and it was one Sheba was looking forward to. She was tired of just burying the dead, she wanted to save someone, not give them their final rights.

"Okay, then we need to move. If you can't hear them properly, they have to be miles away and that could take us hours."

Zara smiled, she loved how Sheba thought she had super hearing or something. Her hearing was better than the average human, but, by Niran standards, she was almost deaf.

"Not really, they may only be an hour or so away. I have good hearing, but I'm not as good as my teacher. He could tell just where they are and how many there mostly likely are. He puts my skills to shame."

Zara turned back toward the faint screams and began to move toward them, like Sheba she wanted to be able to save someone this time, even if it was only one or two.

Zara began to gag when they reached the forest about an hour later. The smoke was so thick that they couldn't see more than a foot or two in front of them, but it wasn't the smoke that was making her gag. It was the smell of burning flesh and bile.

Sheba flew ahead as Zara was forced to stop and get her bearings, Ugo had stayed by her side to keep her safe from any lingering magicians in the area.

"No, Ugo go with Sheba. She may be strong but she's still new to fighting like this. I'll be fine."

He wasn't sure about leaving her, she looked pale, and she seemed to be having a hard time breathing with all the smoke in the air. That wasn't normal fire, and smoke went hand and hand with Zara and her people. There must have been something else in the air, maybe some kind of spell or poison thought up by the church to attack the other species' senses.

Zara looked over at Ugo and noticed the look on his face. It was the same one he had when Solomon would bring him some kind of problem or some new kind of magic that he wanted him to create. It was the look he had when he really wanted to figure something out. She had always loved that look, his nose would crinkle up and his eyes would get this glazed over, far-off look to them.

She reached out and grabbed his shoulder, "Ugo, I'll be fine. Just think about it this way: if whatever they're doing is affecting me this much, just imagine what it's doing to the Dioscuri. They rely on their senses just as much as the Niran do, and, if I remember correctly, they have the ability to fuse with others making their senses twice as strong, that means whatever this is is twice as bad for them. You need to go and make sure that Sheba's ok. I don't want to take the chance that they may attack her in the confusion. I only need a minute to get use to whatever this is and then I'll be fine, so go." she pushed his shoulders to make him move.

Ugo stumbled a few steps forward from the force of Zara's push. He knew that she was right, but that didn't make it any easier to leave her there knowing that whatever was in the air was making her weaker. Before long, the senses that she relied on were going to be gone and she would be vulnerable to attack.

She was so young and thought that she was undefeatable at times. It terrified him, knowing that, if she continued to believe that, he would lose her and her sweet smile and childish pranks that kept him and some many others on their toes. He knew that's part of the reason why she did them, it kept everyone's senses sharp, made them look harder at everyday objects to make sure they weren't trapped. Her pranking had saved more than one person's' life in this war. But, he also knew that she was right, even as young as she was, she was still much more experienced than Sheba when it came to fighting. The one that really needed him right now was Sheba, and any Dioscuri that he could possibly save.

Ugo turned toward her and nodded. No words were needed, she knew what he wanted to say and she felt the same. This wouldn't be her final battle, nor would it be his and Sheba's. They would come out on top of this and make it back to the base in one peice to joke and laugh with the others after all.

She was relieved to watch him turn and disappear into the smoke. She needed to use a skill that she wasn't ready to be questioned about just yet. It was something she was just learning to control. It was in her blood and she wasn't ready to let her brother and family know just what she was going to become just yet.

Zara took a couple deep breaths trying to steady her nerves only to choke on the smoke surrounding her.

"Dammit, didn't really think that one through." Zara got out through a coughing fit.

 _"Zubea!"_

A small whirlwind began to form in front of her, blowing away the smoke in her immediate vicinity, making it much easier for her to breath and think. She knew what she was going to have to do next wasn't going to be easy. This would be the first time she used this skill without the help of Adar, and she was a little worried. If she did this wrong, she could do some serious damage to the surrounding area and any innocent people, but she needed to be at her best right now. Also, the church needed to remember just why David had chose her mother.

It wasn't just because she was beautiful. She had been one of the few Golden Ones left. They weren't called such because of their golden fur and hair. When the Niran talked about the living embodiment of fire, most meant the Golden queens and kings of old. Those that had given their lives to protect their people. They had a control over fire that was almost godlike. The things that they could do with their power was an amazing sight to behold; It wasn't just the flames that seemed to leap to the their command, but their power of illusions and their ability to mesmerize beings as will. It was a skill that the Niran had lost many years ago, and the only ones able to do it now were those with Golden flames. Which, over time, would began to show in their wielders' hair. Some would only gain a stripe or two, and others would have their whole head change to the color of spun gold.

Zara's mother, Lady Sana, had been the last true Golden One when she had died that day so many years ago. Beaten and abused, she had no longer inspired the fear she once did. But today, Zara was going to remind them just why she had been chosen, and show her father what he had created when he had forced her mother into his bed.

She closed her eyes and reached for the flames that flickered within every Niran, the ones that she had inherited from her mother that burned with a golden hue, and told them to search for what didn't belong.

The air began to whip around her in vortex of wind and flames as she continued to call for her fire to burn away in poisons within her system. A more experienced Niran could do that with little to no outward signs of what they were doing.

Before long, she had burned the majority of the toxins from her system. It would be enough to make her faster and stronger than a normal human but nowhere near what she would normally be capable of doing. Still, it would have to be enough. She had work to do, people to save and church scum to kill.

She kept the fires that surrounded her burning, partly to burn up any toxins in the air, but mostly to scare the crap out of anyone that ran into her. After the little stunt that the church had pulled, she wasn't in the best of moods. Her head hurt and she still felt sick from whatever was in the air. They going to pay for using it.

By the time that Zara had made it to the battle, she was pissed and sick. Any mage that had the misfortune to run into her had ended up becoming ash or food for her fox fires that danced around her. She wasn't skilled enough to give them a true form just yet, so they looked almost like will-o-wisps that just seemed to bob and float around her when not attacking.

The further she made into the village more pissed she became. House after house had been filled with carnage. The magicians hadn't cared if the victims had been old or young. Zara had even found twins, a boy and a girl, killed in their crib, mere feet from their mother. Some of the Dioscuri had taken their attackers out with them. So many had fused together to try and give their families a fighting chance.

No matter how they tried to justified it, this was a senseless slaughter and nothing else. To kill off a whole race simply because they feared that they could do. Knowing that they would never be able to control them like the Niran, Fanalis, and Dragons of Origin. So, this was what her people had to look forward to if Solomon failed. It was a sobering thought, but she wouldn't change a thing, even if it meant that this could end up being her fate. Death was preferable to being slave in her mind, and the same thought was held by her people. The Niran don't do well when they are enslaved.

Zara looked down in shame when she thought about how just six years ago she had done the same thing in the name of the church. How, under her father's order, her brother had been forced to send her out to kill or enslave the other races herself. It was no wonder that some of them feared her still.

"Oh umm, Zara, I could use a little help over here!" she heard Ugo choke out. He sounded like he had swallowed a frog. She hadn't heard him so unsure of himself since Paimon had left to help with towers in the western front.

She turned towards his voice ran to the outskirts of the village, until she almost ran right over him. He held two little Dioscuri, a boy and a girl. Both had buried themselves into his chest and didn't look like they were going to be letting him go any time soon. Their small antlers were just starting to go grow out of their ice blue locks. She couldn't see their faces seeing as they had them buried in Ugo's chest.

She smirked up at Ugo thought that they were lucky little devils to be buried in his arms like that.

"I see that you have some cute little leeches there. So, what did you need help with exactly? I don't sense any magoi in the area except for ours and Sheba's. And I think I feel Solomon's?" Zara was a little surprised at that. Last she knew this mission was suppose to be just the three of them.

"Oh, yeah, the trail that Solomon and Abra had been following curved over our way. I guess this was a much bigger settlement than we originally thought. So, are you going to help?"

Zara turned toward him and almost took pity on him until she heard Wahid's voice in the distance and remembered a time much like this one a few years back.

She smiled oh so sweetly, "No."

Ugo looked even more panicked when he realized that Zara wasn't going to take the children off his hands.

He continued to look from them to her with this panicked almost pleading look. The only child that he'd ever had to deal with was Zara herself, and she hadn't been very childlike growing up, more like a mini adult. Granted, that had started to change in recent years with the help of her Niran kin, but still she didn't really act her age. She never really had.

"You know that they're yours now right? Unless we manage to find their parents alive."

"Zara!" she hadn't been paying much attention, not really thinking about the fact that these were children. Granted, they may only be a year or two younger than her but the had been raised in a loving household with parents that did their best to keep the war and the fear of the church at bay. So, when she spoke, she didn't think about the fact that saying that their parents were most likely dead in front of them was a big no no.

The little girl began to cry even louder and the boy turned to glare at her with such cute green eyes that Zara just had to take a moment to stare. They were so cute that she just wanted to hold them.

"I'm sorry, little one. I didn't mean to upset you and your sister," she reached out and put her hand on his shoulder, "But I've been in your village and the church wasn't kind to it. I don't want to give you any false hope. That would be even more cruel to make you believe that they're out there waiting for you.", She smiled and put her hand on the little girl's head and played with her hair, "Don't you worry you just gain a whole family who are going to love you. We won't take the place of your parents and your family but we will be here when you're ready."

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 **I finally got this one done, and at long last the Dioscuri have been introduced. Now I don't own anything but Zara, the niran race and the story line that goes with her, I helped create the two little twins introduced in this chapter but the dioscuri belongs to Jaxrond. I hope you guys enjoy and if you have time please leave a review.**


	17. Thamina and Salos

They had been here for weeks at this point and two still hadn't spoken to anyone. Zara had taken to calling them by the color of their eyes. The little boy was Mr. Green Eyes and the girl was Goldie, which in turn earned her more glares from the twins. Neither one seemed to like her much. No matter how hard she tried or what she brought to them. Food was either spat at or thrown away as soon as she walked away, or at times, if Mr. Green Eyes was in foul mood, in front of her. He hated it when she offered to help his sister with her hair. He could at times get violent with any humans that got to close to them, with the exception of Sheba and Ugo. Well, Solomon too, but that was because he had grabbed him up by the scruff of his neck and told him that he meant him and sister no harm, and if he chose to check on the welfare of one of his people he would. It got Solomon a few looks from the different mothers in the army, but they needed to remember that the Dioscuri weren't human, even if they looked it. In boy's eyes, Solomon had just shown him who was boss in a way that proved to him that he wasn't going to hurt them but he also wasn't going to take any of his crap.

So, today she was making her way to the twins' newest hideout; another thing that seemed to piss Mr. Green Eyes off. No matter how well they hide or where they went Zara was able to find them. It was just something that she had always been able to do. She could easily find and identify any magoi that she had come in contact with before. In the last few months, she had gotten better at picking out the one that she wanted to find. Before it had always been a sea of different colors and emotions. She couldn't always find just one and, when she did, it was nothing more than a vague idea of the general area of where they were.

As she made her way to the twins newest hiding spot, she ran into Ugo carrying a plate piled high with all kinds of different food. She knew that it had to be for the twins, after all they only accepted food from Ugo and Sheba. But Zara didn't really blame them. The only people here that they knew and didn't fear were those two. Well, and her, but she didn't make the best first impression and she had no one to blame but herself.

She was so used to being the youngest that she didn't even think to curb her tongue. After all when no one watched what they said in front of her, she stopped doing the same. They were at war and they knew it, she knew it and by this point most knew that she was her brother's right hand girl. She knew about all his plans and most of the time helped him plan them.

So the thought of someone around her age not knowing about or needing protection from the world around her was pretty foreign for her.

"What you got there, Z?" she smiled over at Ugo and held up her prize. She had seen the way the little boy looked at the flowers in the garden, the few times that they had ventured that far out.

"I think I finally found my way in." This time she was sure that at the very least she would get their names.

Zara had searched the garden for ages for any flowers that she thought would suit the two. She made a bouquet pink and purple Hyacinths, white camellia, and yellow roses. She talked a few life magic users and found out that each flower had a special meaning. She was really hoped that at least one of them understood what she was trying to say.

"So, flowers?"

Ugo looked over at her out of the corner of his eye. He knew that she really felt bad about how she had handled things when she first meet the twins. She had been doing everything in her power the last few weeks trying to show them that she was sorry.

"Are you trying to ask them out or something?"

"Ha, ha very funny. I've seen how the two of them look at the garden when you guys walk past it. I kinda figured that this would be my last chance to get any kind of response from them. I'm determined to learn what their real names are. After all, we can't keep calling them Goldie and Mr Green Eyes."

Ugo laughed and reached out and ruffled Zara's hair. He knew how hard the poor girl had been working to gain the twin's trust. He didn't have the heart to tell her that they had already told him what their names were.

"I'm sure that if anyone can do it, you 're a sweetheart, just give them so time to figure that out. It'll be sooner than later if you keep doing what you're doing. You have the same presence to you that your brother has. People just naturally come to like you after they make it past your gruff outer shell."

After giving her ears one last rub, Ugo continued on toward his and Solomon's study. It was where the twins were hiding out today.

Zara smiled with a hint of a blush across her nose. As of late, whenever Ugo was near her that happened, but she shook her head and ran to catch up with him, knowing that he was going to see the twins.

When Ugo and Zara finally reached the study, Zara hang back a bit, suddenly getting shy when she saw how the twins ran up to Ugo. They looked so happy seeing him and she knew it wasn't just because he has brought them food. She could see a plate of pastries sitting on the corner of Solomon desk.

It was just seeing Ugo that made them that happy and it made Zara just the slightest bit jealous. He made it look so easy. She had been trying to gain their trust for the last few weeks and the best she could get out of them was glare. Where as he hadn't had to try at all. He had just been at the right place at just the right moment.

Zara shook her head and sighed before she entered the study. She knew that it wasn't Ugo's fault that they liked him better, it just a fact. She would just have to work harder. She just knew that if she could make them see past that they would be the best of friends. She wasn't really sure why she knew that, but she did.

After she took one more deep breath, she gripped the flowers tightly and made her way over to the twins.

"Umm, I picked these from the garden for you." Zara offered the flowers to the them, wanting to kick herself. She knew that they had to know that the flowers were from the garden. Where was her normal eloquence?

When they just continued to stare at her, she moved to sit them down in front of green eyes.

"So, um. Yeah, these are for you, and I'm just going to leave them here and I'm going to go over there," her voice quivered the tiniest bit as she pointed to where her brother and Ugo were trying to pretend that they weren't watching.

The boy just kept glaring at her. It was his sister that finally stood up and hit her brother's shoulder before she picked up the flowers and reached out to stop Zara from leaving.

"My name is Thamina, and this is Salos. Once he's done being upset over me hitting him, I'm sure that he's going to love the flowers that you brought us. Can we still be friends? I know that Salos has been pretty mean to you the last few weeks."

She looked so sad and scared when she asked that Zara smiled. She understood that feeling. Wanting to make friends but terrified that they would reject you, so you lash out first to see if they're going to to stay.

"Of course we can be friends. That's what I've wanted from the very beginning. Sheba's the only other person around my age here, that I'm not related to anyway. Solomon's my big brother," Zara pointed to Solomon at Mina's confused expression.

"A lot of people don't put two and two together until one of us points it out.", she shrugged " I think that we look alike, but I guess other people don't"

"You know, it could be the whole ears and tail thing," they heard a slightly snarky voice say from behind Mina.

Mina turned toward her brother glared, she understood that he was only trying to protect her and he still wasn't sure about Zara. But she was tired of only having three other people to talk to. Sheba was nice, but she only wanted to talk about boys and Solomon. Ugo wanted to talk about magic and his theories, which she didn't understand at all. And Solomon only wanted to know more about their race and their bond as twins. After a few weeks of that, she was itching to talk to someone who was mostly normal.

Zara leaned to the side so she could see little Salos better. She smiled and laughed as she tilted her head to the side.

"You know, you just maybe right, little guy. Never thought that, I mean my ears and such are just a part of me."

"Ignore him, Zara. Come on, we can go and talk next to Ugo and Solomon," Mina sighed.

Ugo and Solomon quickly looked back at the maps and books littered around them to try and pretend that they hadn't been watching the exchange.

After taking her place beside Ugo, she turned toward Thamina and patted the spot next to her. She been wanting to talk to of them for weeks, so she thought it best that they be comfortable.

Unlike Zara, who wasn't paying the boys any attention, Thamina had been watching both Ugo and Solomon during their conversion. She had seen the way their eyes had lit up when they started talking. She noticed the way they seemed to follow Zara's every move, much the same way that her own brother followed hers or her's followed Salos. She liked both, Ugo and Solomon, and if those two loved Zara enough to worry for her as they did. It was just one more reason to join her.

She had also seen the looks that Zara gave Ugo when he wasn't looking. Even as young as Thamina was, she understood that Zara was in love with the human. Granted, she personally didn't understand why, all boys, other than her brother, were gross and loud. But if she had to choose a boy to like, then she would admit that it would be a close call between Solomon and Ugo. Of course, it helped that those two were the only boys she knew besides her own brother.

She looked back at her brother at that thought, about to ask him to join the two of them only to be met with a shocked look that quickly turned to a glare. He was angry that she had been thinking about possibly liking someone. Thamina simply shrugged, she knew that Salos could never stay mad at her long.

She quickly took her place by Zara's side and listened to her talk about this and that for a few more minutes before she finally asked her.

"You like Ugo, right?" she smiled at Zara's shocked and almost panicked look.

She watched as Zara quickly came to her feet, almost tripping over them in her haste to stand. She casted one quick wide eyed look over her shoulder to where the two boys sat talking of some upcoming battle or some such thing, fighting and bloodshed didn't really interest Thamina.

Zara quickly ran from the room before she allowed her head to catch up with her fear of discovery. Just as quickly as she fled she stopped to think about just what little Thamina had said. It wasn't that big of a deal that she knew that she liked Ugo, and so what if that big idiot figured out how she felt? She had been in love with him since she met him as a child. Maybe it was time for him to realize that she had feelings for him that weren't exactly sisterly. With that thought, she turned back to the study that housed Ugo and the others, her steps quick and sure. But the closer she got, the slower she became. Granted, she truly wanted to let Ugo to know how she felt, but she was only eleven, and he was still far too old for her, that much she knew. Maybe when she was older and more mature he would be able to take her more seriously, but for now, it was best that she didn't tell him. But she still need to fix the wrong that she had just committed by fleeing from Thamina and the guys like that. The poor girl probably thought that she hated her now or something even worse.

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 **I'm so sorry that this took so long to get put up. But here it is and the Twins are finally here! Also my Co-writer and I are talking about doing Folklore stories for the different races explaining their history and such. That's all for now. Please enjoy and reveiw.**


	18. Damaged Pride

Zara made her way to her normal training grounds. Thamina had understood way she had took off running like that after she had explained. But Zara still felt horrible for running away like that, she hoped to make it up to Thamina in the next few days but her master, Adar, was mad that she wasn't training like she was suppose to. So, duty called and she had to answer this time, as much as she would like to spend the day with her new friend.

She really wasn't looking forward to this session. She knew that Adar wasn't going to go easy on her after all the practices she had missed trying to befriend the twins. This one was going to be long and very painful if she judge it by her mentor's face.

She released a long, drawn out sigh as she made her way to his side. She really wasn't looking forward to this. She could already feel the burns and smell the burnt fur.

She quickly took her stance in front of Adar and tried her hardest to guess his next move. She knew that most opponents made small almost unseen moves or gestures that could help you guess which way they were going to attack or dodge. If one worked hard enough and learned to watch an enemy's body language you could control a fight with little to no effort at times. It was a skill that she used in her battles with the church one that had saved her life more than once. It had also saved her from a broken bone or two when she trained. As much as humans and the other races tried to hold back it wasn't easy once you got going, and more than once had an ally been carried off the training field to fix a broken bone. But a broken arm or leg was a lot easier to take than losing your life if you failed to see an incoming attack in a real battle.

He started his attack with no warning. He was moving so fast she had trouble following his movements. He seemed to be moving with no rhyme or reason. She knew that he was angry with her but she never imagined that he was this upset.

She grunted when one of his blows grazed her arm. Zara quickly jumped to the side to avoid the rest of the strike. She knew that she wasn't going to last long at this rate. Her body wasn't as nimble after weeks of play. She had lost her edge in her inattention. There was no one to blame but herself. In a way, it was easier to understand why Adar was so mad. If they were attacked now, she wouldn't be at her best. She shouldn't have put off working her body, given what had happen in saving the twins. The poisons that the Church had pumped into the air had robbed her of some of her normal strength to begin with, and being a sloth hadn't helped her any.

She gritted her teeth and waited her the next round of blows to begin. It was then that she heard the snickers. She turn towards the road that lead back to the base to find Salos and Thamina watching her. It was Salos who was laughing at her attempts to dodge her master's strikes.

Naturally, Adar had noticed his Lady's moment of inattention and once again stuck when she wasn't looking. This time knocking her off her feet, she landed not far from the twins.

"Zara! You need to pay more attention. What if I was an enemy bent on ending your life? We would have lost not only one of best fighters, but one of our leaders, if not two if your brother or Ugo where near you. They expect you to be able to protect yourself and watch their backs. If you can't take this seriously, then there is no point in me teaching you."

He knew that he was being hard on her and yes he wanted her to be a child but skipping training and not goofing off during them could get her killed. It was the one thing that he refused to let happen. He had lost his daughter to the Church and its greed he refused to lose her legacy as well. He too had heard the snickers from the little Dioscuri boy, and he planned to be an end to it before it grew into something that could damage his Lady's confidence.

"You," he pointed to Salos,"yes you boy. If you can't sit there quietly and possibly learn how to not get yourself killed, then you should leave. I won't have you interfering with my little lady's training. This is what keeps her alive when she is away from me and her brother. If you wish to annoy and pester her, you can do it on your own time and not on my time. This is important." With that said he turned back to his charge, firmly believing that was the end of that. But he had never met Salos before.

"She not doing a very good job of it. She didn't do much when she came to our village. Ugo and Sheba did most of the work. I'm pretty sure she's never killed a magician in her life. After all, she claims one of them as her family."

Salos liked Solomon and thought he was a pretty good person, even for a human, but that wasn't the point. He didn't much care for Zara, she had taken his sister from him. Even if it was only for a moment and Thamina didn't really go anywhere. Point is, this girl was trouble and he didn't much care for her or anything that she did. He refused to believe that she was all that strong. He truly thought that Adar was going easy on her and that he could keep up with Adar easily. He told him as much, and watched as Adar's face changed from a serious scowl to one of laughter.

The thought that this little boy, one who had never truly fought in his life, could stand a chance against him, or Zara for that matter, was hilarious to him.

"Oh, you think that you're a match for me little one? You couldn't even win a fight against my little lady. Even with her current injuries, she would still be more than a match for you, little one."

Zara looked from Adar to Salos, not really sure what was going on. She didn't really understand what Adar was trying to do here. He was right it wouldn't take much for her to pin Salos down. She wouldn't even really need to try. He was just a child, untrained in the ways of war, and had no idea how to fight. It would be like attacking a civilian.

What point would there be in it? She would learn nothing and gain nothing but more animosity from the boy, who she desperately wanted to be friends with. Was he trying to punish her for missing training?

Zara had tuned out the voices of Adar and Salos at this point to try and figure out what Adar had in mind. She didn't benefit from this. She learned nothing and she already knew how to hold back. It was something that Adar had beaten into her skull after she had told him about what happened in Wahid's tower. He never wanted her to worry about hurting an ally again.

She felt a hand on her arm and looked over to find Thamina standing next to her. Then it hit her just who Adar was trying to teach. It wasn't her, but Salos. Salos claimed to protect her above all others. And, if he thought that he was such a big shot all the time, he was going to end up getting not just himself but Thamina hurt as well. Maybe he did need to get knocked down a peg or two. For one who had just recently lost his whole family and been unable to stop it, he was acting awful cocky. She hated to deal a blow to the boy's pride, but he may just need that. He needed something to push him to get better, like how Solomon and freeing her mother had pushed her to learn when she had been younger. And if Salos began to train, Thamina would soon follow him. That would give them two new fighters in a few years. Also, it would give Zara someone to spar with who didn't know all her tricks.

She smiled at Thamina,"I promise that I won't hurt your brother, much." she patted Thamina's head.

As Zara turned toward Adar and Salos, she heard a soft voice "You can call me Mina. I think that you've earned it by now."

Zara smiled and walked with more of a spring in her step. She was going to enjoy this. Salos had been a little prick that last few days. It was like the filter that had keep him in check had suddenly disappeared. Granted, she didn't really want to hurt him. So she laid her weapons on the ground next to her master. She wasn't going to need them, and that didn't mean that she couldn't still hurt him if she wasn't careful. She still had her claws and strength.

Zara stopped in front of Salos and took a deep breath before aiming her biggest sweetest smile at him. He took a step back, almost thrown off by her. He expected a snarky response or some kind of insult. Afterall he had insulted her abilities as a warrior by calling her weak and useless and here she was smiling at him like she was about to confess her undying love or something girly like that.

Of course that was part of Zara's battle plan. She was a trickster by nature and the first rule of battle was something that came easy because of that.

One needed to throw off their opponent and make them underestimate you. If they didn't think they you were going to be able to do much than that was in your favor. It helped Zara that Salos already thought she was useless. He wouldn't see what was going to come next until it hit him, and then it would be far too late to stop her. She almost felt bad about what she was about to do. Her smile turned from charming to deveous in less than a second, and it took even less time for her to have Salos pinned under her. She was pretty sure that he hadn't even registered her change in expression before she had him pinned.

She had taken advantage of his moment of distraction to knock his feet out from under him. She was nice enough to catch him before he hit the ground. She grabbed the front of his shirt to stop his downward descent before she pushed him slightly to the side so that he would hit the grass and not the rocks that he had been perched on a moment ago. She wanted to teach him a lesson, not injure him.

Zara giggled as she looked at Salos' face. He looked a bit like a fish with the way he kept opening and closing his mouth. Like he wanted to say something but couldn't get it out.

"You done or do you want to try again? I can do this all day, brat. You didn't even put up a fight." Zara pretended to yawn as she climbed off Salos. She knew she was being mean but well she was a brat and she was very proud of that fact.

Salo's face turned red with rage. "You cheated! I wasn't ready yet! The old guy hadn't called the fight to a start yet. How was I supposed to know that it was okay to attack?"

Zara turned toward Adar not sure what to do. Never in her life had a mock fight had a "start time" you just started when both of you agreed to fight. You didn't get a bell or whistle in a real fight to let you know when you were going to be attack. So it had never made any sense to her or Adar to have one in training.

"So, little one, you think that in battle they're going to give you time to get ready. That they're going to stand there and wait for the fight to start? The second you step foot on the battlefield you need to be prepared to give your all, and possibly your life. There's not going to be any bell or person that's going to yell out begin. If you want to be a warrior and avenge your family and race you need to be able to defend yourself at a moment's notice."

Salos nodded as he stood. He understood what Adar was saying. If he became accustomed to waiting for the sound of a bell to start a fight then when Solomon finally allowed him on the battlefield he wouldn't last all that long. If beating Zara was what was going to get him his revenge than he would do it. He still thought that she had just got lucky this time and that he would get her in their next fight.

That was how Zara and Salos spent the last few hours. He just refused to believe that Zara was stronger than him. It didn't matter to him that she had been a warrior for years. Zara had picked up her daggers when she was four years old, and taken her first life when she was five. Had lead her first campaign when she was six. She wasn't a normal girl by any means. She had been fighting most of her life.

They had drawn a crowd after the first hour or so. At fir,st it had just been Solomon who had come looking for his sister. Than Ugo had wandered over looking for Solomon. They were amazed, watching this boy taking one beating after another. He refused to back down, and it was truly astounding. It was the first time that he wasn't rooting for his sister. He actually wanted to see this little boy win. He wanted him to come out on top, to beat the odds. After all, beating Zara was no easy feat, only Solomon and Abra had managed to do it.

"The brat's got some guts. I can't believe that his still trying to beat her," Ithnan told his brother as he watched Salos get back on for the tenth time in the last hour. He was starting to last longer, but that could just be Zara taking pity on him.

"I'm not surprised at all. The boy seems to have a lot pride and pent up rage. I wouldn't be surprised if he kept trying until Zara is forced to knock him out," Setta replied.

Solomon nodded absently at the two. He knew that it was going to take Salos a long time before he was even able to touch Zara, but he was improving as the fight went on. He was quick on his feet and a fast learner by the look of it. He was listening to Zara now as she pointed out the flaws in his stance. As prideful as he seemed to be, he wasn't against taking help and that showed promise.

Solomon had been toying with the idea of training the two for combat, but they hadn't seemed that interested. It just seemed that he needed to give one of them the right opponent. He made a mental note to call in Amon to see if they had any potential in magic.

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 **So this chapter has been done for awhile now. just took my beta reader a bit to read it. So if any of you have read _Survivor and Seeker_ you know who Mina and Salos are, if not, I do recommend it. Its by my beta-reader and co writer Jaxrond. Now enjoy and please review.**


	19. Flaming Plants and things

Zara's training bouts with Salos became a daily thing. He would usually show up after he was done training with Amon. He had started to sit and wait until she was done training with Adar or talking with Solomon depending on what she had to do that day.

He had to begun to improve in leaps and bounds. He didn't rush in without thinking any more. He had started to plan out his moves and look for openings in Zara defense. He also watched as she trained with her brother to see how Solomon beat his sister. Granted, Solomon relied mostly on magic, but, he could still pin her when they just trained physically.

He had noticed that she tended to use her size as an advantage. She was small and quick, but that left her open to opponents that had longer reach than her. Which, unfortunately, he did not have, yet. He was sure that he was going to grow to be taller than her. But that was going to take him years and that didn't help him now.

Also, taking in the fact that she had somehow managed to worm her way into his precious flower's good graces. So he couldn't even get away from her when they weren't training. She was always there.

He was sitting in the garden, pouting, trying to think of ways to get past her guard and had yet to come up with anything that would be of use to him at this point. He wasn't all that fast yet and physically he wasn't even stronger than her. That had come as a shock. He was used to being the stronger one. He really wasn't sure to handle this new development and it pissed him off.

That was part of why he was pouting. She was here in his territory and sitting and talking with his Mina. He continued to glare at her as she laughed at something that Mina had said. As he watched her lean back he got a really great idea. He could finally use what some of what Amon had taught him in class. If it worked, maybe she would think twice about interrupting his Mina Time.

A slow, almost evil smirk worked its way across his face. He sent the smallest bit of his Magoi into the ground and sat back to watch the show he was sure was coming.

She had sensed movement above her and felt a drop of, what she thought was water. No, Salos changed the fern into a carnivorous plant. A very big, very hungry plant that had decided that Zara was going to be its first real meal. Not a very smart choice for it to make.

It took less than a second for her to react. She grabbed a hold of her daggers and engulfed them in fire. Using the heated metal to easily cut through the roots. Then, she proceeded to stab the creature, the fire on her blades to spread to the fern. She then used her strength to throw it away from her and Mina, which caused it to land on Salos.

Now, Zara could at times be a brat and wasn't above using her powers on people, but Salos was just learning how to use magic. And, so, that meant he was safe from Zara's Niran powers for now. At least, safe from her attacking him outright. Now, if he was going to use his limited abilities against her, well, she couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't accidentally attack him.

The garden had gone deathly quiet when Zara had first moved. But it didn't take long before the laughter started.

Sheba was the one who took pity on poor Salos. She used a quick spell to put the fires out before checking to make sure he was ok.

Other than a few singed hairs and a light burn on his face he was fine. Sheba wasn't a healer but she was pretty sure that it wasn't going to leave a scar. She figured in a day or two he would be fine.

Having been training with Zara for months she knew that Zara hadn't used the much magoi, but Sheba called over Setta just to be on the safe side plus it was about time that Salos learned to get along with some of the other members. He couldn't hide behind Ugo and Zara forever.

Setta came over when Sheba called to check him over and came to the same conclusion that Sheba had. Ithnan had followed his brother over, wiping the tears from his eyes from laughing so hard.

He slapped Salos on the back, "It was a nice try kid. But Zara's reflexes are pretty howned from being a slave and warrior for so many years. If you want to get the drop on her you're going to have to wait till she lets her guard down. I would try to get her when she's with Solomon or Arba. she tends to be the most relaxed around them."

Setta glared at his brother. He never understood his childish need to prank Zara. it was the one thing about his brother that he didn't adore, but other than that he was absolutely perfect in his eyes.

"One of these days you're going to regret all the pranks and fights you try to pick with our precious little sister, Ithnan."

Ithnan just smiled and shrugged. He would never really regret pushing Zara to get stronger. The stronger she was the less likely they were to lose her, and that now applied to their newest members. He knew that it would shatter Zara if she was to lose her new friend and that meant this little twerp had to be protected as well. Since he was Mina's older brother.

Salos watched the two men that claimed to be brother with narrowed eyes. He really didn't like many people besides Ugo and Sheba, but he knew that Zara was close to the one with green hair.

"You're going to help? Yeah, I don't believe that for a second." Salos turned away from Ithnan with a pout.

Zara couldn't hear the rest of their conversion from where she was but she hoped that he let Ithnan help him. It would do him good to befriend more men besides her brother and Ugo.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and looked over her shoulder to see Mina and Zagan. Salos wasn't going to be happy when he realized how much time little Zagan was spending with Mina, but Zara thought he was just so adorable. It was pretty obvious that he had a crush on the dioscuri.

"Is Salos going to be ok?" I heard her ask in a low voice.

"Setta isn't panicking or using any magic so I think he's going to be just fine. But I'm going to have to apologize for sending that thing flying at him. I really didn't mean too."

Zara sighed, she really wasn't looking forward to it. She could almost see the smug little smirk on his face as he started to milk as much sympathy out of it as he could.

* * *

 **hey guys, I'm so sorry this took so long to get out. I was hoping to make it a bit longer but I kinda lost my muse for it. So instead of forcing it and writing in circles I figured it was just better to post it. The next few chapters are going to be in that Five year time skip. So I'm going to focus more on building Zara's relationships with the others. I'm also going to be talking more about the Niran and going into depth about their culture. Enjoy and please review with any thoughts or requests.**


	20. Camping

He really did milk it. For a whole week Zara did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted it. All he had to do was snap his little fingers and she came running. She really hadn't meant to hurt him.

Zagan, who had just recently had a bit of a falling out with Salos, who had made the mistake of having a crush on Mina, took pity on Zara; and told her how he had sensed Salos' magoi in the area surrounding ferns origin.

Over the last year or so, Zara had been letting her magic training fall to the wayside. Focusing more on her physical and Niran abilities. After all, the army was mostly comprised of magicians and she was the only Niran who was regularly on the frontlines. So, it wasn't that hard to see why she hadn't sensed his magic. Not that she wasn't beating herself up over it. She had just lost a whole week of training to be this little twerp's maid. Oh. he was going to pay, she wasn't sure how or when but he would pay and pay dearly.

On the other side of the base, Salos had to fight down the cold chills that were racing across his back.

When Ithnan brought up the idea of a camping trip to teach the twins basic survival skill to Solomon and Ugo they thought it was a great idea. Even Abra thought it would so the twins good to be out of their comfort zone. Zara was the only one who wasn't all that sure about what was going to happen. Salos was still learning how to fight and use his magic. Mina only knew how to use magic and it was purely supportive. She would have no way to defend herself if something happened.

As mad as Zara was at Salos, the little twerp was starting to grow on her. She didn't like the idea of him being so far away. With only Setta and Ithnan to protect him. But all her protests fall on deaf ears, Ugo, who was their acting guardian, had already giving Ithnan his permission to take the twins.

A small part of her was upset that she wouldn't be able to get her revenge. Not that she would admit that out aloud.

Zara watched as the boys took the twins off the base. Setta made sure to pack basic supplies to last them a few days. They had some dry rations, but he planned on them hunting and gathering food. After all, this trip was to teach them how to survive if they were ever to spend a few days away from camp without Zara or Ugo. They needed to know how to take care of themselves. It really was for the best.

Zara just didn't like the thought of them being so far away from safety. Solomon told her it was just her mother hen instincts talking her. She always did like to mother everyone when she wasn't playing the little sister card.

Solomon had alway found it funny when she would go from being Wahid's annoying little sister to nagging him about is manners and making sure he was eating enough. He loved it when she would get on him about how he talked to Falan and the other girls.

But now Zara had to deal with someone talking her "babies" away. This would be the first time someone took those that Zara claimed somewhere before she said they were ready. But, she was being a little too overprotective in this instance.

Well it was true that Salos was still learning how to fight, he had progressed by leaps and bounds working with Zara. She was one of the best hand to hand fighters they had. The only one who was better was Abra. Salos had already been able to beat some of the others in mock fights, but Zara kept comparing his skills to her and it wasn't really fair at this point.

The one that Solomon understood her concerns for was Mina. She didn't really have any combat skills and her magic was so, so at this point. She didn't really have the drive to learn like her brother did. She was content to follow behind him and be protected. This trip could be her pushing point. It could show her that Salos wasn't always going to be there to keep her safe.

She watched them for the shadows. Listening to their plans for the next few days. She always thought that Setta was the smart one out of the two of them, but she was beginning to doubt that. Why he thought that it would be a good idea to send Mina and Ithnan to hunt was beyond her. Mina was so gentle it was hard to imagine her killing anything. Salos and Setta were in charge of making camp and would be cooking tonight. Well, that makes sense on Setta's part. He was a great cook... but Salos, not so much.

At present, he was sulking because Mina had just left with Ithnan. This was a disaster waiting to happen. Granted, he was helping Setta after he had shot him one of those glares. The one where his glasses go black and all you can see is his eyes over the top giving _the look_. The look that tells you that you screwed up big time. He generally only used that look in battle, but it worked just as well on the kids when he needed them to toe the line.

They couldn't even get the fire going. They had been at it for an hour now. She was half tempted to show herself to help them. But Solomon and Ugo would never let her live it down.

The boys were some of the strongest fighters the army had. There would be no excuse for Zara to have followed them. She knew that they could protect the twins.

Zara's brief moment of inattention showed that Salos had somehow managed to start a fire. He had set their tent aflame somehow. Zara was shocked to say the least. That boy was going to be a one man wrecking crew someday. He had somehow managed to set the tent, which was a good four feet away from where Setta had told him to start a fire, on fire.

Setta then used his magic to encase the tent in ice. It did stop the fire, but it also destroyed what was left of the tent.

Salos watch it all with a wide eyed look of innocence. Zara wouldn't have put it past him to have done it on purpose so that he wouldn't have to do it again. He was devious like that.

Setta was taking deep calming breathes with his hand clenched around his staff like a lifeline, or that could have just been his way of not wrapping his hands around Salos' throat. He looked mad enough to be thinking about it.

"So, you're no longer going to be allowed to use fire magic tools without supervision now," She heard Setta get out between clenched teeth.

And then Salos' face kinda fall just the tiniest bit when he realized that he was still going to have to learn how to do it.

Once Zara saw that Setta had things in a semblance of order she went off to Ithnan and Mina.

It didn't take her all that long to pick up their trail. All she could do was shake her head. A child would be able to track them. It looked like Ithnan hadn't even tried to cover their tracks. This trip was suppose to teach the twins basic survival skills. In her opinion, being able to disappear into the the surrounding country was a very important skill to have.

What if they got surrounded or ambushed? Being able to blend into the shadows, to hide, was very important. She had some hope that, one day, they would be able to go with her on, her hit and run missions. If they could come and go like the shadows around them, they would never be able to work alongside her.

She shook her head. She was going off topic here. Right now it was about them learning how to take care of themselves.

And it didn't look like they would be able to do that. When she finally came across the two it was to find them fighting over who was going to kill the animal that they had found.

"I can't do it! It's looking at me," Mina cried as she pointed at the Fennec rabbit.

Zara had to admit that it was cute. It had big fox ears on the side of its head and a fox-like tail, but it's body was like a rabbit's.

And it was giving Mina sorrowful eyes, like it was trying to get her to take pity on it. Not that it was all that hard. Mina always seemed to have a soft spot for anything that was small, cute and helpless. Zara could see her with a house full of cute tiny animals or war orphans.

Zara understood why Mina didn't want to kill it, but Ithnan was another story. He was a war veteran. He killed on a weekly basis, so killing on little rabbit shouldn't be all that hard.

Of coarse, Zara was taking in the fact that the rabbit looked like a fox, which reminded Ithnan of her and that made it a little hard for him to kill to for food.

"Umm, maybe we should just forage for food. Then we won't have to worry about killing any helpless animals. We can just let this one go." Ithnan gave Mina a strained smile as he spoke.

Mina's eyes continued to fill up with tears and her lip wobbled, "But it's hurt now. We can't leave it out here! It'll die and it will be all our fault."

Ithnan was prepared to give her a speech about how that was how things worked in the wild, and that right now they needed to get enough food to feed themselves. It would be hard enough to do that without adding another mouth to feed, no matter how cute and pathetic it was.

But he just couldn't win against those eyes. Her eyes had begun to fill up with tears and were starting to sparkle and her lower lip was pushed out just the tiniest bit. All and all, she looked so cute and pitiful that he really couldn't bring himself to say no.

Zara had to slap a hand over her mouth and lend against the tree for support. She was trying her hardest not to laugh. Zara was the one who taught Mina how to do that. Granted at the time Mina had thought that it would be a waste of time, but she was using it now.

Once the two made it back to camp with Mina's new pet, which she had named Jojo, Salos was grumbling about how it was something else was taking away his Mina.

Setta was asking about what was for supper and Ithnan pointed to Jojo and told him that they couldn't kill it and that Mina wanted to keep the little creature.

The peace was quickly shattered after that, with Setta yelling at Ithnan for not bring anything back to eat. Which then continued, with Ithnan pointing out that they didn't have a fire going or a shelter built for them to sleep in.

Salos had to stop Mina from eating a poisonous mushroom that she had picked up on the way back. Before long were they eating the berries that just showed up on the log, not knowing where they had come from. It was Zara who had found them and put them there when Salos was busy with Mina. The twins just sat on a log that Salos had found and watch the boys fight eating their berries.

Setta and Ithnan turned toward the twins when they realized how quiet it had gotten.

"You know, this was a bad idea. _We_ actually started fighting. We should just go home. The twins aren't ready for this."

Setta just shook his head, he didn't really care at this point. He was starting to fear for his sanity.

"Just pack up the kids and we can go home. At least no one will ever have to know just how bad this went. I'll just tell Solomon that they missed Ugo."

* * *

 **Sorry that this took so long, but here is one of two chapters that I got done. I'm going to be focusing on Zara's relationship with the twins and the others in the group. Next chapter is her with Adar again. I hope you enjoy and please reveiw.**


	21. Adar's confession

Zara smiled to herself as she watched Mina play with her new pet. The joy she felt mostly came from knowing that it caused Salos' great pain. It was another thing that was taking away his precious sun.

As much as it seemed to kill him to share Mina, he was getting a little more mature about it. No, she took that back. He had just sent a plant after the rabbit when Mina's back was turned.

Zara cocked her head to the side and sighed as she watched Salos' try to place the blame on Zagan. She didn't really understand why he tried. Everyone knew that Mina could never stay mad at her brother long. She was pretty sure the world would be on the road to the end if she managed to be mad at him for more than a few hours.

Setta and Ithnan had managed to play off the camping trip as the twins just getting homesick. The only one who knew the truth besides them was Zara, and she was saving that bit of knowledge for future blackmail material. She was going to use that for a rainy day, she never did know if they were going to tick her off. Pranks could only go so far for revenge at times. It wasn't long before she lost her smile and the melancholy mood that she had been in returned.

She wasn't really sure why she was so quiet and watchful of late. Before, she would have been down there picking a fight with Salos or trying to talk Mina into learning more. But since they had come back from camping and her stalking, she just wasn't as happy go lucky. It was almost like how she had been before. She still smiled and conversed with the army but her heart just wasn't in it.

Where Zara was watching her new siblings, Solomon had been watching her. He knew that it was that time year again. It would soon be the anniversary of the start of the rebellion, the day the Niran were freed from their collars and the day that they lost Sana. He wasn't all that surprised that Zara was gloomy.

Most of the Niran were either partying in celebration or mourning those they lost all over again. It was a very difficult time for them. The older generation mourned, will the younger celebrated. For some, they were too young to remember their Queen. They had been born into slavery and had no memory of the sacrifice that she had made to try and keep them safe.

Those that had been born into Sana's generation or under her rule mourned her passing. They remember how hard she had fought to protect them. How she had lost her family and her freedom. But they also looked to the future when they remember that she had given them a new leader to look too. Granted, Zara wasn't ready,, or even sure if she wanted to that responsibility.

Solomon sighed as he watched his sister. He knew that she was confused and lonely. Not really sure why she was feeling like she was.

As he was about to make his way to her, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Adar standing behind him.

"Son, I think that I should be the one to talk to her this time. I know that you loved Sana like a mother, but..," Adar's eyes had a pained mostly guilty look as he grazed upon him. His voice cracked as he tried to finish, "Sana was my daughter and it's about time that I did right by her daughter."

Solomon's eyes widen when he took in what Adar had revealed. It made sense,, now that he thought about it. From the start Adar had taken special interest in Zara. At first, Solomon had assumed that it was because of her title.

He had conflicting feelings on the matter. For one, why did he have to wait so long before he spoke up? It had been five years since Sana had died. Solomon wasn't too happy about that. He may have been a soft spoken and calm individual, but this was his sister. The only true family he had left in the world. It was a well know fact that he had started this war to free her and her people. Zara was the one that had opened his eyes to the cruelty of his race.

But, a small part of him worried that he was only upset because he wouldn't be the only family she had anymore. All these years it had just been the two of them. Now, Zara was going to have a grandfather to help shape her into an adult. Granted, he knew that Zara considered the whole army her family, but he alone was the one who could claim a true tie to her. He just didn't want to share her in that way. She was _his._

Solomon shook his head as he watched Adar make his way to her. He was more like Salos than he liked to admit.

He was seventeen, almost an adult now. He needed to be mature about this. He always knew that there was a chance that Zara was going to have Niran family out there.

Adar smiled softly as he took in his young granddaughter.

"Five years ago today we lost our Golden Queen, your mother and my only child. I was helpless to stop her from giving her own life for yours. I will not lie to you little one. There was a time that I couldn't stand to look at you." Adar looked away as he spoke, "You look so much like your mother, but as you've grown I've started to see more of Solomon."

Zara turned away from Adar, "You mean David. I know that I look a lot like him."

Adar shook his head a reached out to turn Zara's face back toward him so that he could look into her eyes, "No, little one. I mean Solomon. You could never have been like that vile man. In my eyes you look like your brother. There isn't a person here that doesn't know that it was Solomon who raised you. You are who you are today thanks to your older brother. He was the one that taught you wrong from right. He taught you how to be strong, and helped you learn to stand on your own two feet. He did his best to keep you from the horrors of this world, but never tried to hide them from you when they came knocking. He was your father, in a sense. He went above and beyond in his duty as your brother. And now it's my turn. I've kept a lot of your heritage from you. There are things that a Niran your age should know. I should have been teaching how to lead and about the responsibilities that the Queen of our people have."

Zara's face remained deadpan through all of Adar's speech. So, she was just suppose to accept that he was her grandfather and that he had been hiding it all this time. She could get over the fact that at one point he didn't much care for her. Most beings were like that at first, it was something that she had learned to live with.

But the fact that he had been lying to her for years wasn't. She knew that her mother was a queen. That had been drilled into her at a very young age. Hell, she knew about it before she had been freed from slavery.

She didn't care how many lessons or how many times that they tried she never wanted to be a queen. One of her "aunts" could be the next queen. She was sure that one of them would have a golden child at some point. She knew that having the golden flame within wasn't a requirement to rule.

Zara had been raised to be a warrior. A weapon that David could use to subdue the other races. As long as he had her and her mother, he would have had the Niran on his side. Then Solomon took her and freed her people. She then became a weapon for the rebels. Not that she thought of it that way. She believed in what Solomon wanted for the future.

Her thoughts were going around in circles at this point. Logically, she knew why Adar had made the choice that he made, but emotionally, she just couldn't see it. It was at times like this that she wished that she could just slip back into that unfeeling machine that her father had tried to mold her into.

A few short months ago, she may have been able to, but having Sheba and the twins around had changed her.

Yes, she loved the guys, Wahid and Falan but they were older and they tended to treat her like a child. Sheba respected the warrior that she was and the twins looked up to her, not that Salos would ever admit that. They were the ones who really broke down the walls that she had built around her heart.

She sighed, "Look, I understand that you want to act like my grandfather now, but you're a little late. And I really don't want to deal with all the crap that claiming my blood link will bring with it. I never want to be a queen or whatever. I'm a warrior, I end lives, I don't lead them into the future. I have no desire to be put in charge of the lives of my race."

Adar closed his eyes and just barely stopped himself from sighing. He knew that he was going to have a long hard road in front of him. Zara was a very stubborn person. It was something she had inherited from her mother.

He knew that she would make a wonderfully queen if she could just stop following her brother so blindly. If she could open her eyes to the other half of herself. She would be some much better for it. But again he had no one to blame but himself.

Sure he was training her, but that was only for battle. She really knew nothing about her people outside of how much damage they could inflict.

She knew nothing of their culture. Of how they lived their lives. He had never told her the different folklore they had. All he had done was help mold her even more into a weapon. Granted, his heart had been in the right place at the time. He had wanted to make sure that she could protect herself, but that didn't change the outcome any.

"That's fine. As much as I would love to be able to act as your grandfather. I understand that I let that bridge burn and that I may never be able to build it back up, but don't let this stop you from learning. I have so many things that I can teach you. Not about fighting and warfare. There are stories and legends about our people that you never learned. You don't understand how your flames came to be, or what fuels them. You just use them willy nilly. I think that you could be so much more than you are now. Learning about where you came from can help bring more balance."

Zara turned to look out at the sky. She was remembering some of the old stories that her mother had whispered to her at night. About the great warriors of old that were said to protect the Niran. She could remember one that told of how a young girl had giving up all her power to protect the people. They had watched as she seemed to burn as bright and as hot as the sun itself…..

She knew that there was more to the story but she really couldn't remember it.

"I would like that a lot. I always liked the stories that mother would try to tell me. David didn't like it much when she did."

Adar smiled, it was so like his daughter to try and teach her right under her captor's nose.

"How about I tell you the story of our origin?"

Zara smile and nodded it was one story that her mother had never told her.

"Once upon a time, there lived a great fox. She was the only one of her kind and she was very lonely. One day, she happened upon a young human. He was being hunted by Ogres. She took pity on the poor man and saved him from them, but not before they had managed to hurt him.

At first, the man feared the fox. Thinking her to be like the ogres. But, he soon learned that she was a kind being. Before long, the two learned much about the other.

She learned that he was the last survivor of his tribe of humans and he found out that she was the only one of her kind. The father had never made another one of her. She didn't even have a name. She had been born of the very fires of their world.

They began to travel together, and before long, the young man realized that he was beginning to fall in love with the great fox. But, he knew that they could never be together as they were. So he prayed to the great father to hear his pleas and make him as she was. But his prayers seemed to fall on deaf ears.

After months of prayers and pleas, their father finally answered his human son. He told him that the great fox had never felt love before, and so knew nothing of it's pull or power. He refused to change his son's form if his love wasn't returned.

So the man went to his love and asked her if she loved him. She asked what that meant. When he told her that it meant that she would give anything to stay by his side.

Her answer was "Haven't I already done so? I have left all that I knew behind so that I could stay with you. I no longer hunt far and wide for my game but instead chose to stay here with you. In the years that we have traveled together I have never once let my fires out to play or asked to return to fiery home deep within the world, for I know that if I did you wouldn't be safe. The only other thing that I could give for you use is my form. There is little I wouldn't give to be human, so that I could hold you in my arms."

When she spoke those words the great father heard and answered her, for he knew all along that she loved him. He wouldn't the man to know just how much. And so, he gave her a human form, though she still retained her ears, tail and her claws. And he, in turn, changed the young man to look like her. The final gift that he gave the young lovers was the ability to turn into the great fox. And from them the Niran race is descended."

Zara also loved hearing different lore about the Niran or any race really.

She thought that it was a little funny that they seemed to be descended from humans as well.

"Are we really descended from humans? If so why do they hate us so much now?" Zara asked slightly confused.

Adar smiled down at her, "Well, that's how the story goes, but no one really knows if it's true or not. But I can remember a time before the great war when our people were very close to the humans." He shook his head, "Humans tend to fear what they do not understand, and as you know, we can be very hard to understand at times. We spend our younger years wild and untamed. It's only when we reach our thousandth year that we begin to look to the future by using the wisdom of our past."

Zara knew that the Niran that made up the council were much older than they looked. They were the wisest ones in the village. Generally the oldest as well, but not always.

She remembered Adar telling her once that all Niran have a special ability that they gain when they get older. It tends to be something that they have always been able to do, but it only really fully manifests close to their thousandth year. If one had their fully manifested ability then the could be one of the council.

Adar spent the rest of the day telling Zara different stories about their people and a few about her mother as a child. She learned that she was a lot more like her than she realized. Her quick temper and easy going nature came from her. He smiled and told Zara that her bookworm side came from her brother. Her mother had hated to read and be still as a child. But Zara could sit still for hours on end with a book and be happy.

She was happy to know that she had a family, but it got her thinking about the twins. And she wonder if it was possible to add them to her little family.

* * *

 **So Zara found out that Solomon wasn't her only living family. Also she learned a bit more about her culture and her mother. Enjoy and please reveiw**


	22. Culture shock

Amon had left with the twins to teach them basic magic control. His people were the only ones besides the magicians that had any real understanding of magic. They, like the Niran, could only control fire, but they loved to learn about the different forms that magic could take. So, Solomon had given them all the books he had about magic and they in turned began to teach the younger members of the army.

Mina and Salos were going to be spending the next few years with the hermit tribe. Salos was on the fast track to being one of the best warriors in the army, and Mina had shown great promise in the magical arts. The only thing really holding her back at this point was the fact that she didn't seem to want to work at it. Amon hoped that being away from Ugo and Zara would help that. He knew that they only wanted what was best for her, but they gave her whatever she wanted, and she never had to work for anything. Salos could be just as bad, but, as Solomon was beginning to understand, that was part of being a Dioscuri. They didn't really understand how, but they knew that he would do anything to keep her safe and she would do the same for him.

The only problem with that was Mina wasn't going to be able to defend herself if Salos, and now Zara, did all her fighting for her. Amon knew that he could handle Salos on his own but he couldn't deal with two overprotective was a hard pill for Zara to take. She didn't want to lose her new friends so soon after gaining them, but she knew that Amon was right. Salos and Mina needed training, and they weren't getting that with her. She would miss them, but Amon promised that he would bring them back to visit, and that they would be taking missions to destroy towers when they were ready. So that would mean that she would see them again. He promised that he would keep them safe and he would even teach them to read and write so that they could keep in touch.

Adar had just finished talking with Solomon about taking Zara to one of the recently made Niran settlements. Partly to teach her, but mostly to keep her mind off the twins. Solomon had only agreed for him to take her for a few days. He knew that, other than the magicians' flying ships, there was no other tribe as fast as the Niran. Zara would be gone a week at most and that gave him time to finish up his plans for the next attack. The area in they were planning to hit this next time had three towers. The tribes that they controlled had been allies for many years and the only way that Solomon could take the towers was to try and take them at once. He didn't want them to have to fight the people they had long thought of as friends. It would be to cruel.

"Adar, I believe your settlement is in the same area that Abra is currently at. It may do Z some good to spend time with her. They haven't seen each other for about a month now." Solomon told him without looking up from the maps he was studying. He waved at Adar, "I'll talk to you to later. Bring her back in a week or two with Abra if you can. We could use her help with these towers as well."

Adar could only shake his head as he looked at his young leader. He could remember when Solomon hated when Zara would leave without him or Ugo. Now he didn't seem too concerned.

Of course, Adar failed to think about the fact that he was related to Zara, and that put him on Solomon's list of approved Zara trip takers. It wasn't a very long list. Adar was sure he should take what he could get, because he was sure that once Solomon found out about the Niran Culture he wouldn't be so quick to let her go with him. Solomon respected the other races and their cultures, but that didn't mean that he understood them all or agreed with all that they did. Adar shook his head. He saw nothing wrong with his people, but he knew how others saw them. He just prayed that Solomon would never look at his sister like that.

He looked up at Solomon and smiled, "As you wish, princeling, I'm off to find my lady. We'll be leaving once she packs a bag," Adar laughed as he watched Solomon tense up, "Don't worry. I'll make sure she stops to see you before we leave."

Adar realized that Solomon wasn't as okay with them leaving as he tried to show. Solomon was mature beyond his years, so it was easy to forget that he was a boy sometimes. It was nice to see him act his age and show that he wasn't always confident. A boy needed to learn how to take a few hits to the ego before he became a man.

Solomon held her in his arms and didn't want to let her go. He knew that she would be back before he knew it but this would be the first time that she would be gone for days. Trues he had left her a time or two but he had always know that she would be waiting for him.

"You know I'm going to come backs Solly. I won't be gone all that longs and I'll have Adar with me the whole time. I promise that I'm going to be fine."

Solomon only tightened his grip on her, "I know that, but I just lost the twins to Amons and now you're leaving with Adar."

Adar laughed as he watch his little lady and her brother. It had only been the previous day that his leader gave his permission for her to leave.

"Wasn't it just yesterday that you were talking about how quiet it was going to be with Zara gone? I'm fairly sure I heard you tell Ugo that you were looking forward to the peace that her absence would bring."

Solomon had to the good grace to blush. Honestly, he was looking forward to the quiet that her leaving would bring, but he didn't realize that he would miss her so much until it was time for her to leave. Granted, they had been apart before, but not like this. He always knew who she was with, and, more often than not, they would end up meeting on the battlefield.

He snorted and pulled her closer when he thought about the fact that he felt better about sending her to war than on a trip to meet her people. He guessed that a small part of him worried that she would fall in love with her mother's culture and not want to come back, and that thought is what kept him for letting her go. But, he knew that he couldn't keep her locked up in the base, only to let her out for the next battle. It would kill the spark that was in her.

He took a deep breath before he released his sister and pushed her toward Adar. It was time that he learned to let go. If Zara chose to stay with her people, than that was the path that their god had picked for her and nothing that Solomon did would change that. He could only smile and wave as he watched her leave. He stayed until she disappeared into the horizon.

As he turned to go, he noticed that he wasn't the only one that was going to miss her.

It took Adar and Zara a few days to reach the settlement. Normally, it would have taken a week or so, but Adar had chosen to use his fox form to travel. Niran were much faster in their fox forms than their human-like one. Normally, seeing her grandfather in this form would make her green with envy. It was very likely that she would never be able to take that form. Some of the Niran said it was because she was too human, but Zara believed it was punishment for the sin her father had committed in conceiving her.

Adar smiled as he felt his little lady run her fingers through his fur. He was excited. He couldn't wait to show her all that she had missed with her mother's death. He knew that she would love the Niran culture. They were so much more free with themselves than than the races were.

He knew that Zara was going to be shocked when she seen it. Granted, she had been around other Niran, but they tended to be more toned down when away from the settlement. They knew that other races were not as open as they were and so they tried to respect that. Not all of them seceded, but they did try.

"Gramps, is that it?" Zara asked pointing to a village in the distance.

He looked up and could just make out the spiral towers that made up the gates of the village. They had learned from their enslavement. His daughters swore that they would never let another of their people be forced to wear a slave collar again, and so they reinforced the village. He knew that his girls still blamed themselves for the lost of their Queen and baby sister, Sana. They didn't much like that Zara was more of a warrior than a leader. She was better at taking orders than giving them, and she was happy with that. He knew that it grated on his daughters last nerve.

Zara had all the power that her mother once held and then some. She had the potential to be the most powerful Niran Queen that had ever been, and she didn't seem to care or want it. Adar knew it wasn't so much that she didn't want the power. He was pretty sure that they felt that Zara didn't want them or her people. He knew that there were some among the Niran that felt that Zara was turning her back on them. That she would rather be among the humans that had enslaved them than among her own kind. Some that even believe that she was ashamed of her Niran heritage. Which he knew for a fact wasn't true.

Zara loved that she was Niran. She reveled in the fact that she was different and that no one was like her. It was something that she took great pride in, but he also knew that at times she was ashamed of the blood that flowed in her veins. Her father was the one that enslaved them. It was funny really, both sides felt that the other didn't want anything to do with them.

"Yes, love. That's the village. Now, I feel that I should warn you. The few Niran that you have met have been pretty tame to what you're going to find there. In the village, we Niran don't hold back what we are. We don't try to tone down what we are. So you're going to see things that you're not used to. I don't want you to panic or get overwhelmed with all the new information or sights, so let me know if it becomes too much."

Zara smiled softly and patted Adar. She understood that he was worried. After all she had never been to a niran settlement but she herself was niran and this was her people and her culture. She would be just fine. Of course, that was before she actually got into the village and seen everything.

No, she would not be fine at all. Everyone was half-naked, and Zara was used to people being half-naked. Most of the army went around without much on, but she had seen women with tops that left very little to the imagination, and at one point she was pretty sure that she had seen someone without anything on at all.

"Sorry, Little one. Most Niran don't care if they have clothes on or not. When we change we have to remove our clothes anyway. So being in the nude is second nature to most of us." Adar had seen the question in Zara's eyes, "Those of us that work with the army have ways that hide our bodies. We understand that it makes some uncomfortable."

Now she understood why some of the Niran back home look so uncomfortable. They would at times pick at their clothes.

"I can see your mind at work, Little one. No doubt you're already planning and plotting to help those back at the base."

Zara turned toward her grandfather and patted his hand, "Just a few thoughts that may or may not be of help to our people back home."

Neither had noticed the group of people coming toward them until they heard the sound of disdain.

"This is their home, little girl. Not that moving mountain that you humans made with your magic. No true Niran would call a place crawling with magicians their home, and to say otherwise would be an insult to all that lost their lives in the battle to free us."

Zara tensed up, she knew that she was going to have to deal with a few bad apples as Mina would put it, or as Salos would say, 'some serious assholes who needed to take the sticks out of their butts'.

"Last time I checked, I was also a Niran." Zara reached up and touched her ears with one hand and reached back to grab her tail with the other, "Hmm, My ears and tail are still there. I was a little scared that I had lost them on the way here." she brought her hands together, "Oh, wait they're attached. Silly me."

Adar choked back a laugh. He loved when Zara would get all sassy. She was so much like her mother in those moments. It was like he was looking back in time when Sana was her age.

When he looked up at the others he noticed that he wasn't the only to have that thought. The look in his other daughters' eye told him as much. He knew what they saw when they looked at his granddaughter.

He was use to the sight, after all he had stayed with Solomon. He had been there from the start. He was going to see Solomon's and Zara's dream come true in the place of his daughter. He hadn't run from the little kit that looked so like Sana but with the enemy's eyes. He knew that Zara hadn't been a choice that Sana had wanted to make but he also understood that Sana had loved her all the same. Zara had been his baby girl's second chance at a family.

"Zara, my dear," he steered her toward his daughters, "I would like you to meet your aunts. The oldest with white tips on her ears is Kenna. Next is Seraphine, she's the one with red eyes, and last but not least is Nuria."

Adar pointed out each sister as he told their name. He knew that just one of them knew who Zara was. He also knew that they had met her at one time when she was very young, but Zara would have been far too young to have remembered them.

Nuria stepped forward and reached out for Zara first.

"It's good to see you again, little one. I always knew that you were going to look like your momma. You could be an exact copy of her when she was your age."

Zara smiled up at Nuria. She never thought that she looked much like Sana. Sana's had been golden and so long that it reached her waist. Her ears and tail had been the same pretty gold color except for the tips. They had been a ruby red. Her eyes had been a blood red color.

Zara gently touched her own red locks and wonder if her aunts were trying to make her feel better. She knew what she looked like and it didn't match what she remembered of her mother. Zara was pretty sure that she got the red color of her hair from her grandfather, now that she knew him. And she knew where her eye color came from. Honestly as much as she loved her blue eyes sometimes she wished that she had her mother's eyes.

Adar could guess what was going through his little lady's mind right then. He knew that it was time that she knew one very important but little known fact about the Niran, they couldn't lie. They could some pretty creative things with the truth but they couldn't out write lie. There was a story that told about how that came to be. It was one of the stories on his list that he wanted to tell Zara.

"Zara, your Aunt isn't lying. You could be the spitting image of your momma at that age. The only thing that is really different is your eyes. You have the same brilliant blue eye as your brother. I promise you that anytime that we tell you something it's the truth. We full-blooded Niran can't lie. You, I know, can. I've heard some of the wild stories that you've told your brother and Miss Abra to get out of trouble."

Zara smiled and played with her clothes. She wasn't ashamed of her ability to come with a story on the spot. Not that all of them were all that good, but she was getting pretty good at coming up with something on the fly.

"So, is there anything else about our people that I should know? Mom tried her best to tell me what she could, but, David would punish her when he found out. So I stopped asking her about us. I didn't want to be the cause of any more of her pain." Zara whispered the last part.

She generally tried not to think about what happened to her and her mother. It was easier at time to forgot about her time there, but it was all that she had of her mother. So instead she like to think about their time together after Solomon had stole her away from her father.

He had made sure that she got to spend as much time with her mother as was possible. It wasn't nearly enough but that time had been precious. They had been as happy as they could.

Adar patted Zara's head and gently rubbed her ears. He knew that it pained her that she knew next to nothing about her mother or her people. She had been so young when Sana had died and he knew that as much as it had killed Sana she did keep a lot of Zara back then.

"Well, I guess we should start with one of the most important things: Who leads are people. At the moment, it would be your aunts who are in charge. As they are the related to our fallen Queen and her daughter has of yet shown on interest in taking her place on the throne. They will continue to lead us until you take your place or another Golden one is born."

Zara had always thought she was the next heir by default. Being her mother's only child, but, they kept throwing around 'Golden One', like it was something important.

Another thing that confused her, Sana was the youngest of Adar's children, how was it that she became their Queen anyway? Leadership is mostly passed down to the first born child or the first born male child depending the race. So the thought that you had to have something extra baffled her, it went against everything she had learned about royalty. But then, as she would soon learn the Niran were in a class all their own.

"I guess I should have started at the very beginning. You see, many years ago when our race was still very young. We didn't have the many different branches that we now do. There were just those of us born of fire. And every generation there would be a child born that possessed a pure power. This power would turn their hair a beautiful golden color. It would happen over many years. The more they used their power, the more their body would reflect it. These children were called the Golden Ones. They would have more energy than their bodies could contain. This energy would then leak out of them energizing the people around them. Those with Golden powers were linked to those that shared their energy. It was a side effect of the sharing and before long those bonds were then passed done with the power from mother to daughter, father to son and so on. Because of how they could empower those around them, the Golden Ones slowly began to lead us. It has long been lost to time as to why the Golden One is now only born into our clan."

Zara listen quietly. She had so many questions racing through her head. What did he mean by branches? She thought that there was only the one clan. In that one moment she realized how little she really knew about her own people.

How proudly she wore the Niran mantle, but she didn't really have a right to that pride, now that she thought about it. What did she know of them? Did she know about their culture? Hell, she didn't really understand why she was consider to be the next queen until now.

Adar and his daughters walked Zara to the center of the village where the head of their people would normally live. It wasn't anything over the top. It looked much like the other houses in the village. Their homes were built out the wood from the woods that surrounded them. Many of them were open, with only small parts that were actually enclosed. That stemmed from the fact that Niran had a hard time feeling the cold. They all had a fire burning within them that would only go out when they died.

After Adar had led Zara into his home, he spoke of the different clans and branches of each of those clans. The first Niran had all been of the Fire clan before some of its member moved away and adapted to their surroundings. The Fire clan was still the clan that ruled over all the Niran, and it had only one branch. That was the clan that could control light the way that the rest could control fire. It had become a part of them, in a sense.

The Light clan was generally happier and sweeter than their Fire cousins who were known for their forcefulness and being fairly promiscuous. The fire clan of the Niran was known to be the most hot tempered out of all the Niran clans.

Now, the first clan to appear after the Fire was the Earth clan. The first Niran were born of the earth's fire, so it didn't came as that big a surprise that some of their people would learn to control the earth. They were generally strong and steadfast.

There were two branches of the Earth clan, the Wood clan that could control plants that grew from the earth and the Dark clan that could control the darkness that dwelled within the earth. The Wood clan were more open to the other races and were well known of their nurturing nature. Not much was known about the Dark clan. They mostly keep to themselves and shunned other people, even other Niran.

Now, the last clan to come about took the longest. They lived by the oceans and great lakes. The slowly learn to bend the water to them. After many, many years they became the Water clan, and from them came the Ice clan that lived on in the coldest of placest.

The Water clan was mostly the opposite of their Fire cousins. They were calm and very slow to anger but if you were to anger them their tempers were just as explosive as the Fire clan.

After their enslavement by the Humans, most of the other clans had declined greatly. They had never been as numerous as the Fire clan to begin with and they just didn't have the number to survive.

There are only two other races who were as diverse as the Niran, they would be the Humans and the Dioscuri. Dioscuri were a race of twins whose elements always compmainted just other. Where as Magicians may favor one kind of element, they could use all the elements.

Adar smiled at Zara's baffled looked. He patted her head and sent her off.

Zara sat by herself looking out over the village. It had been a lot of information to take in, so her grandfather and aunts had let her have the day to herself.

She just spent it observing her people. It was something that Solomon had taught her. Getting information from an inside source was nice but the downside to that is they tend to overlook the small details. To them, it was an everyday part of life but, to an outsider, it could be the difference between a warm welcome and a sword to the throat.

She could tell just from watching that her people were _really_ free with their affections and bodies. It was a little weird to her. Abra had always told her that she should only let the man that she was in love with touch her; that her innocence was something that she could only give away once and that meant that she should give it to someone special.

Zara had always worn her Niran heritage with pride, but what did she really know about it? Not much until now.

Slowly she stood and stretched. She couldn't stay up here and hide from them. She knew that not all of them were like Zahir, but that wasn't a comfort because some of them were going to be.

Zara took a deep breath and made her way down to the village proper. She really wanted to know more about her people and the best way to do that was to interact with them.

She stopped at the edge and watch the people move about. She noticed that it seemed that the older Niran were the ones who worked and the younger adult seemed to play and laugh like children. Yet another thing that was surprising to her. Solomon had always taught her to respect her elders and do what she could to make their lives easier. And yet this people seemed to delight in giving them more work, and the elders may glare and grump about the work, but you could tell that they enjoyed it.

She felt so out of place here. She knew her way around a war council or what to do on the battlefield, she had never been the best at making friends. She was good at being annoying and forcing a person to like her but to just go out make a friend didn't come easy to her. She thought back to winning Mina over. It took her months to get that girl to talk to her, and Salos still hates her.

She shook her head. She was Zara Tamar Abraham, daughter of the Golden Queen Sana and Younger Sister of the rebel leader Solomon, she was feared by the church, and she wouldn't be scared of her own people.

* * *

 **Finally got the next chapter done. I wanted to get this one right. It has a lot of information about the Niran. Hope you like and please enjoy.**


	23. New family?

As Zara's and Arba's blades met, one could hear the echoing of the metal scraping against each other.

Arba had met up with Zara a few days before, and today they had spent training. Arba was worried that Zara's skills were getting rusty. She had been working with her Aunts, learning about her duties as leader of the Niran, rather than continuing combat training.

It was a lot of information for the poor girl to take in, after all she was years behind where she should be. Knowing all that it met that she had little time to work on her magic or sword play. Not that her Aunts would have been able to help her with that. Most Niran fought in their true forms and had no need for weapons, and the only really "magic" they had was their element.

Of course she wouldn't understand just how important what her Aunts had taught her was, until she was much older and it was too late to use any of it.

Zara jumps away from Arba and stops to wipe the sweat from her brow. She takes a deep breath and looks around her at the crowd that had began to gather and shakes her head. The younger generation really needed to find something better to do than heckle them and/or flirt with them. She rolled her eyes as yet another man called out an offer of his bed for the night or the rest of the day. Most of the men where either leering at Arba or Zara.

She had stripped out of the heavy kimono that had gone over her lace camisole. She had took to her people's way of dressing fairly quickly. She still wasn't to keen on the short skirts and the barely there tops that most of the women wore, but she did like the skin that she could show without comment. She was finally around people who understood how hot and uncomfortable clothing could be, it was nice to be able to wear what she wanted without much comment other than she was going to be hot in that or it would be better to show more skin.

Her Aunts had taught her that her fire based attacked could be more powerful if she learned how to draw upon the fire that burned inside her, and the less clothing that was in her way when she called on it the better.

She watched as Arba closed the distance between them, faster than most people's eyes would be able to follow. She didn't hold back much when she fought with Zara nowadays. She really didn't need too. Zara was skilled enough to keep up with her and gave as good as she got. But Zara's raw power and natural talent could only get her so far when she sparred with Arba and it was like when Zara and Salos sparred, without the temper tantrums, Zara knew she couldn't beat her big sister. She understood that and she accepted it, but that didn't mean that she didn't try to get stronger, better.

Zara wanted to try out something that her Aunts had just taught her, and she wasn't sure if she could pull it off just yet, but she had been relaying on her physical strength and stamina too much as of late. Her magic and Niran skills were suffering because of it.

She waited until the last moment to dodge out of the way. She quickly turned and called to her Wisps and order them to curround Arba. Granted her Wisps weren't all that strong just yet but they were annoying and hard to get away from. It was hard to hit them when they darted in and out like bugs.

Someday she would be able to make them manifest a real form, be it a fox or a human one. They would be much more useful then, but for now they were great to use for defense, and to annoy Salos.

She smiled as Arba was forced to stop and retreat a few feet. Zara's wisps may not pack much of a punch yet, but they were still living flame and it hurt like hell if one touched you.

Zara took a deep breath and let her powers out. Her hair took on a golden sheen as they worked through her. She reached with them to feel and find her people. When she found the one that she wanted she pulled gently on the light that was them.

When she opened her eyes, she sent a wave of rocks out after Arba.

Arba's eyes widen in shock. She wasn't really sure how Zara had managed to use earth magic without speaking or using her staff. The only person she knew that could do that was Solomon, and it was something that he had recently learned to do. She dodge out of the way by taking flight. Arba smiled down at Zara. She was happy to know that her little sister was getting stronger, but she still had a long way to go.

Zara wasn't quick enough to dodge Arba's counterattack and needed up flat on her back with Arba's sword pointed at her throat.

"A surprise attack is something good to have as an ace in the hole, but what good does it do if drains you like this, Z?" Arba scolded.

Zara pushed her blade away and sat up slowly, grimacing as she did.

"It wasn't the attack the drained me, it was the power itself. My power is a double edge blade in a sense. Since I can't completely control it yet. I can't stop the Niran from taking too much energy and they can't stop the flow to them. I'm literal radiating energy, and I can't stop it just yet. But I have learned how to pull from the Niran nearby. We happen to have a couple Niran from the Earth clan here to pay their respects to the new leader."

Arba shook her head and sighed. It was so like Zara to try out something that she wasn't sure was going to work, just to see what would happen. It was something that drove Arba up a wall and would always make Ugo and Solomon laugh, she picked it up from them after all.

"If you can't control it yet why use it? You could hurt yourself or someone else if you're not careful. Z, I know that you want to know more about your powers and how to use them but I'm worried that you're going to hurt yourself one of these days."

Zara smiled up at Arba. she understood where she was coming from but she needed to practice to learn how to control it. She would be in more danger leaving it go. She didn't want another incident like when her mother died to happen. The only reason she didn't hurt anyone but the enemy that day was because her energy starved people had soaked up most of the power she had released.

"I'll deal with it, if that happens Arba, but I'm not going to stop working with it. I have to learn how to control them or I could hurt a lot of people if something like what happened with mom happens again."

Zara stood and brushed the dirt off her pants before making her way over to her kimono, "Look, I really don't want to argue with you over this. Why don't we just agree to disagree and leave it at that. The way I see it, I already have Solomon's approval to work on it and that's all that really matters.", she stopped to put her clothes back one, "I wanted to talk to you about something cool I learned how to do.", she laughed, "Mostly learned how to do. My aunts told me about a ceremony that will let me bring people into the Niran tribe. It's pretty hard to describe exactly what the means. The closest would be like I was adopting them. I was thinking about asking the twins if they would like to go through with it. Gramps told me I would be responsible for them by Niran law. Kinda like they were my kids or something like that. They would be part of my family."

Zara had been wanting to do something for the twins ever since she found out that they were alone in the world. Solomon was fairly sure that the other tribes of Dioscuri had been wiped out. At this point, it was believed that the twins were the last of their kind. It wouldn't be that farfetched. The church was known to wipe out any race that they couldn't control. It was why there was only one Mother Dragon left and why the Fanalis were so territorial.

Arba smiled down at Zara. It was easy to forget at times just how soft hearted Zara really was. She was such a little hellion at times it was nice to see her softer side. Not that the war really allowed for it to come out much.

Their conversion drifted away from the twins and toward the people back home. Falan was pregnant and was being stubborn about marrying Wahid. Everyone knew that they loved each other.

They had grown some since Zara left. More magicans had joined their cause, but Arba was worried if they were true or not. She found it hard to believe that every person was on their side. She had set guards on the new recruits because of this. She had been getting more paranoid as of late, Zara noticed. She did understand use of caution but Zara worried that she would take it to far. Zara had to learn that lesson the hard way with Sheba. Her running away could have ended very badly. She didn't want Arba to alienate future allies and friends because of that, but she wasn't sure how to bring it up to her.

Talking to Solomon and pointing out when he was being an idiot was much easier for Zara. Arba was like her mother more than sister, and telling Arba that she could be going overbroad was hard for Zara.

The girls made their way back to town. Arba knew her time with Zara was short. Solomon wanted her back soon. He didn't like to have two of his strongest fighters so far away, and Zara was here training and couldn't returned just yet. Adar was hopefully that she would be going back in the next few weeks. He just wanted her to work on her control and but more and being surrounded by Niran made her have to work harder to control it. When they went home she could work on fine tuning it but for now she just needed to work on control the rest could wait.

He also knew that she wanted to learn more about the joining ceremony and that was something that he refused to teach her there. It was a long guarded secret of their people. He didn't mind her telling Arba about it or even Solomon but he wasn't comfortable with all the magicians of the rebellion knowing.

He understood that part of it was his pride as a Niran talking, but he still harbored a lot of hatred for the people that had took so much for him. The only thing that tempered that raging emotion was Solomon and his party. He could look out and see people who knew the pain that they had caused and worked to correct, some at the cost of their own lives. He didn't forget their sacrifices but he knew that they couldn't give back what their kind had took from him, but that wasn't here or now.

He smiled down at his granddaughter as she laughed and talked with her friend. That was another thing that Solomon had given him, a second chance with his Little Lady. If they hadn't work to remove her from her father, she would most likely be dead now or a some magician's plaything.

"Zara, Arba! I'm glad your back. I have some more things I want to go over with Zara. So, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to cut your time together short."

Arba smiled up at Adar, she nodded her head at him and pulled Zara into a hug.

"I'll see you in a few weeks. I'll tell the twins you said that you miss them."

Zara squeezed her tighter. She was going to miss her big sister. They hadn't spent as much time together as of late. The war had been raging harder the last few years, which left little time for fun and games.

She whispered, "Please give Mina a hug for me.", she pulled back and smiled softly, " Salos too. I miss him. I hate to say but I think I miss him more than Mina. I'm getting tired of all the bowing and butt kissing that I've had to deal with lately. I kinda wish he was here to tell me that I wasn't worth the air I breathe. It would be nice to banter with someone again."

Arba laughed and told she would make sure to pass along the messages. She missed having the kids around too. It was far too quiet back home without them there.

8888

Zara watched as Arba disappeared over the horizon. It had been nice to have a taste of home but she had work to do. She had come here to learn about her roots and her powers. Talking about home was nice but it didn't get the job done and made her have to be away from it longer.

Adar wrapped his arms around Zara and pulled her close. He knew that she missed her home but he was proud of her. Everyday she was getting stronger and she was learning more. He knew that she didn't much care about the manners and the day to day management skills she was learning but he knew that someday that those skills would help her even if she refused to see it.

"I wanted to talk to you about your half thought out plan.", he rested his chin on her head, "The twins are adorable, and I know that they don't have a family to call their own anymore. But if you go through with the ceremony, they will be your children in a sense and your barely older than they are. I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do. They won't just be part of the Niran clan. They well be part of the ruling family. For the rest of their lives and the lives of their children they will have that title. They will have the responsibility that goes along with it. Our people may not be the most respected of the races, but we are one of the oldest and most powerful. Even if we down play that power."

Zara stopped him, "Sure, the other races still think of us as jokers, but the magicians now fear us for our powers. We're not as unknown as we once were. I don't think our race will ever be as underestimated as it once was. War has a nasty way of leaving lasting memories."

"Yes, but people like to forgot what they don't want to believe. The other races like to think of us as mostly harmless. Sure they will remember that we're a race not to be messed with but half of them won't remember why, and those that do won't want admit that they once feared us. Now by bring the twins into our race, they well become part of that legacy, as will their children. If they have any, and the Dioscuri were a well respected and feared race. I don't want people to look on the twins with pity or scorn for joining us."

Zara pulled out of her grandfather's arms and turned toward him in a fit of anger. Being a Niran was something to be proud of. She knew that they were a strong, freice race. That could easily win against most other races. She had proven that fact when she was just a child with only a basic grasp of her powers. She knew that Salos looked up to her Grandfather and thought that he was one of strongest men alive. Mina loved the diversities that they were known for. She thought that it was amazing every time she learned something new about them. Both of them would be honored and happy to join their family. Of that Zara was certain, and no matter what her grandfather said, Zara and the twins were the ones that would make that choice.

It wasn't that she didn't understand her grandfather. If the twins did want to join them she knew that it would make them royalty, but her grandfather tended to forgot that the twins were the last of their kind, thus making them royalty. If they did have children and repopulated their race they would be the new ruling house. By adopting them Zara would not only being giving them a family but starting a lasting friendship between their two races. After all both races were known for their loyalty and wouldn't betray the other.

Of course when she first thought about adopting the twins, alliances hadn't meant anything to her. She hadn't been thinking that far ahead. It had been about giving them a family, her family. She loved Setta and the others but they had each other. The twins were so young and alone. Now they would be her siblings, well if they agreed.

"I know the twins and you have forgotten that they are by default the rulers of their people. Mina and Salos would make great additions to our clan. Salos has a temper that could rival any Niran and Mina has a thirst of knowledge much like the elders. Her temperament may be much more mild compared to ours, but she would still find a place here. I think that they would make wonderful additions to the royal family and it's not like they would actually be able to leader our people if I died without an heir. Right of secession follows my powers not my direct bloodline."

Adar smiled at her. He hadn't meant anything by what he said. He had just wanted to point out the cons that the council would throw at her. They may be an easy going people but they still had some die hard purists in the council. She needed to be ready to confront them or use her power as their Queen to shut them up.

* * *

 **This took way longer than I had planned. I had it all done at one point and didn't like how it turned out so naturally I needed up rewriting it. Then I lost my internet of bit so yea. Anyways here it is and there's going to be a timeskip after this... I hope you all enjoy and please review.**


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